


The Toppat King's Ace

by ReaMaeGay17



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Background Relationships, Charles Has Heterochromia, Charles has ADHD, Charles is a Brunette, Gay Stickmen (Henry Stickmin), Henry Has Brown Eyes, Henry Stickmin Knows about Alternate Timelines, Henry is Albino, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I have no idea what I'm doing, Let's just see how this goes, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Selectively Mute Henry Stickmin, Toppat King Ending | TK (Henry Stickmin)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:08:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaMaeGay17/pseuds/ReaMaeGay17
Summary: After the Toppat Clan successfully launched their orbital station, the government had been having a lot of problems with them. Every time they were on their trail, they'd just beam up into space and never be seen again. This was frustrating, as you can imagine. Luckily enough, they were able to capture the leader.But of course, as all prison cells did, that containment didn't last long for Henry, and he may have made a new friend on the way out.
Relationships: Charles Calvin & Henry Stickmin, Charles Calvin/Henry Stickmin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 135
Kudos: 293





	1. I Need A Ride

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah hi. I have no clue what I'm doing. I wrote most of this first chapter in one sitting and just decided to roll with it.
> 
> So here it is! Hope you enjoy!

“He’s escaped!”

“Sound the alarm!”

“We can’t let him get far!”

The shouts of several men and women overlapped each other, creating a loud roar. General Galeforce could be heard over the ruckus, giving orders through the speakers.

“Secure the perimeter. Check every tent. Turn every stone. We cannot afford to lose him. Not again!”

People clad in green uniforms ran from their previous tasks to who knows where else in an attempt to follow the General’s orders. Some were grabbing weapons and running towards the edges of the base to help in guarding the exits. Others were sprinting from tent to tent in a frantic search for the escaped prisoner. The sirens had begun to sound, alerting anyone who wasn’t already to the situation. It was total chaos at every turn.

It wasn’t hard to deduce who it was everyone was so panicked about, after all, they only had one prisoner here.

Henry Stickmin. The infamous criminal mastermind. The skilled escape artist.

The leader of the Toppat Clan.

After the criminal clan launched their orbital station, the government had been having a lot of problems with them. A lot more than usual, anyway. And at the heart of it all, was Henry Stickmin.

Hands balled into fists and feet pounding hard against the earth, Charles Calvin raced through the crowd. He had to dodge and weave around the other army members as he made his way towards his helicopter. He figured it would be a smart idea to fly up above the temporary base and get a better view of the surrounding area.

It seemed the General had a similar idea because he heard his voice come through his headphones as he ran.

“Charlie? Do you read me?” Galeforce said urgently.

“I read you General,” Charles replied, a little out of breath because of all the running. “What’s up?”

“I want you to get in a helicopter and fly around base. Maybe you’ll have a better chance of finding the Toppat Chief.”

“Way ahead of you, General.”

Charles cut his communication with Galeforce and sped up as much as he could as he sprinted towards the helicopter. He got in quickly and slid the door shut. The metal interior of the chopper dulled the shouting outside a little. The brunette sighed and recouped, massaging the bridge of his nose. When he turned to start up the vehicle, he didn’t expect to see what was in front of him. He froze.

Someone sat on the metal bench with a smug grin and a black top hat. He rested one foot on his other knee. He wore a black trench coat and dress pants with a rather striking deep red vest. It was none other than Henry Stickmin. He laughed and brought up his hands.

“I honestly thought it would take you longer to get here,” he signed. “Though, I suppose the General would’ve told you to do a bird’s eye sweep of the area. Am I correct?”

Frozen, Charles could only stand there and blink. He was there. He was right there! He just escaped a cage made specifically for him, and he was sitting in Charles’ helicopter like nothing was wrong! Henry cleared his throat, bringing Charles from his mind back into reality.

“Come now, Calvin,” Henry signed, his brown eyes glittering evilly. “I think this is the first time I’ve made more noise than you in a conversation. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?” He winked at the pilot, causing his cheeks to redden very slightly. Charles managed to convince himself that it was because of anger.

They stayed there in near silence for a minute, the only sound coming from the temporary government base outside. Henry uncrossed his leg and began to stand. The movement brought Charles to draw his gun and fire a shot in his direction.

Charles had dissociated completely. He didn’t see Henry move. He didn’t see the bullet hit the metal wall of the helicopter. He barely even remembered firing at all.

It was only when the shouting outside grew quieter that Charles realised.

“Charlie!” Galeforce’s voice came over the comms. “We heard a shot fired from your area! Are you okay?”

Henry was signing something to him, but he wasn’t paying attention. Instead, he just pressed a button on his headset and began responding to Galeforce.

“Y-yeah I’m fine, General,” he said. “That was me. You’ll never guess wh--” He was cut off when the Toppat leader covered his mouth with a gloved hand. His eyes widened with shock as he felt his gun slip out of his hand and the cold metal barrel pressed against his temple. His heterochromatic eyes met Henry’s as the Toppat merely shook his head with a menacing look on his face.

“Charlie?” came the General’s voice again. “Charlie, is everything okay?”

Henry removed his hand from Charles’ mouth but kept the pistol pointed at his temple. The shorter brunette laughed nervously into his headset microphone.

“Sorry! Sorry General,” he said, trying his best not to act like he had a bloody gun to his head. “You’ll never guess what I did. I forgot to turn the safety on! God, I’m such an idiot. I uh, I’m all good. No need to worry about it. There’s- there’s nothing wrong. I was just about to take off.”

“Ok, Charlie. Hurry it up. We can’t let Henry escape!”

“Roger that, General.” He heard Galeforce cut the communication with him. Sighing, he looked back up at the man who was essentially holding him hostage. He could only manage one sentence without his voice breaking. “What do you want?”

Henry’s smirk returned as he removed the pistol and began to sign. “A ride. Since I got myself captured, the station is no longer in the proper place to pick me up.” He spun the pistol in his free hand for a second before tucking it into an empty holster that was hidden by his trench coat. “So I need you to fly me to a place where they can pick me up. I’ve already put the coordinates in your navigation system. All you have to do is fly this thing. Once we get there, you can feel free to push me out of your helicopter and we can forget this ever happened.”

Charles weighed his options for a moment. “And if I refuse?” he asked, causing Henry to drop his shoulders slightly as he let out a silent sigh.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that. But, if you insist, I can always just contact the Clan. We have a laser, you see. A big one. Refuse and I might just ask them to fire it.”

There was a pause.

“You’re bluffing!”

“Am I?”

Between you and me, Henry was absolutely bluffing. Not about having the laser mind you. The Toppat Orbital Station was equipped with a multitude of weapons, one of them being a massive laser cannon they had called ‘Supreme Dominance’. He could get them to fire it, but that doesn’t exactly benefit him.

Charles didn’t seem to realise that though, because he set his jaw and ran a hand through his hair before muttering a defeated, “Fine.” He brushed past the Toppat Chief and sat in the pilot’s seat of the cockpit, flicking switches and pressing buttons as he got the vehicle ready to take off. He checked the navigation display and, sure enough, a course was charted to a particular set of coordinates. The pilot supposed he’d just have to trust that Henry wasn’t leading him into an ambush.

Henry moved closer to the entrance to the cockpit and peered through the tinted windows at the area outside. It was still chaotic. The men and women of the army were looking all over. There were still the muffled sounds of shouting, which now blended with the whirring of the chopper blades overhead.

Slowly, they began to take off. Charles was doing his best to make sure no one was in a position where they might get hit, but he couldn’t exactly see the back of the helicopter. They did eventually get in the air.

“I’m in the air, General,” Charles said into his microphone. “Making a sweep of the perimeter now.”

He didn’t wait for the General’s reply. Instead, he just mute his microphone and continued flying around the base. Do a few sweeps of the area, pretend you saw something, and fly off to your passenger’s destination like an aerial Uber. That was the plan anyway. Henry seemed to understand that too because he didn’t protest when they did a few laps around the base.

The flight was for the most part silent. Charles could occasionally hear the sound of Henry’s heeled boots against the metal as he walked around. Must take some balance to do that in a moving chopper.

When Charles felt that enough time had passed, he spoke to the General through his headset.

“Wait,” he started quietly before talking louder. “General, I think I saw movement in the forest a bit further out. I’m gonna…” He looked over his shoulder at Henry, who was suddenly much closer than he remembered him being. The Toppat motioned for him to continue, raising his eyebrows. “I’m gonna take a closer look.”

“Copy that, Charlie. Let us know what you find.”

The sounds of blaring sirens and the shouts of the army members dimmed the further away he flew, following the course Henry had set. Charles just hoped he’d get out of range before Galeforce noticed he wasn’t coming back.

He heard movement to his left and turned his head to see the dapper albino in the copilot’s seat next to him. Henry crossed one leg over the other comfortably and adjusted his hat, which was currently sitting at an odd angle. He leant back in the chair and tilted his head towards the view.

A small smile found its way onto his face. Living in space was great and all; he had the best view of the stars ever, but it was easy to miss the views on Earth.

Charles noticed the smile. It was strange, for him at least. He’d always pegged Henry as the kind of smug asshole who only really cared about how deep his pockets were and how much he could get away with. Thoughtfully, he turned back and focused on the sky in front of him.

After about ten minutes of flying, they had successfully dropped out of range of the government communication systems. Charles sped up a little in case the General noticed he wasn’t responding and decided to check the radar.

He didn’t want to have to explain himself. Not yet at least.

Something moved quickly in the corner of his vision. Glancing over he could see Henry waving his arms, he assumed to indicate he wanted to talk. The ace pilot turned his head more and looked at the Toppat expectantly.

“Why are we speeding up?”

“We just dropped off the radar. I don’t want to get caught if they decide to pursue us.”

Henry nodded, seeming to understand and leaned back in his chair. They flew in silence for another couple minutes. Charles was the one to break it.

“Why did…” he hesitated mid-sentence. He probably shouldn’t be asking this question. Then again, he didn’t know what to say to the leader of a criminal organisation at all. Well, it was too late now. He already had Henry’s attention. “Why did you ask me to do this?” He emphasized the word ‘me’.

Henry looked confused, so he elaborated.

“There are tons of other helicopters on base, but you knew which one was mine. You purposefully chose the one that was mine. Why?”

His eyes were fully trained on Henry. He wasn’t even watching where he was flying. That probably wasn’t the best idea. Henry looked downwards, his pupils flicking from left to right as he tried to put his answer into words. He brought his hands up a couple times only to bring them down again and ponder his answer more. Charles sat there patiently.

“You seem like the kind of man I can trust,” he signed finally. “Though I must admit, I didn’t expect convincing you to fly me to be so easy.” He laughed a little at the end of his sentence.

“What? You want me to play hard to get?” He realised what he said the moment he said it. The look on Henry’s face told him he got it too. Okay, so still a smug asshole.

“Is that even in your vocabulary, flyboy?”

Charles turned from the Toppat with a scoff and focused on flying the helicopter. He couldn’t help but admit he was feeling a sense of deja vu in flying with Henry at his side. Only, he didn’t feel like they were enemies. He was quick to shake the thought out of his head.

“At the rate we’re flying, we should probably break for the night at some point and continue flying tomorrow morning,” Charles said, keeping himself focused on piloting the vehicle. “At that rate, we’ll be at your pick up point by noon.”

He noticed Henry nodding in the corner of his vision, but he didn’t turn to give him the chance to speak. He just kept the aircraft steady on the route, hoping there was somewhere safe and hidden for them to stop when night fell.


	2. Boys' Night Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry and Charles make a quick stop for some sleep and something to eat. Charles learns that Henry is more annoying than he thought, and Henry just reminisces about when things were simpler between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahahaha I have no idea what I'm doing! I have an exam tomorrow! This one really counts! Someone please teach me how to maths!

The whirring of the propellers became quieter as they slowed to a stop. Charles took the necessary steps to safely turn off the helicopter.

They had landed in a clearing on a hill just on the outskirts of a small, bay-side town. Charles had mentioned that there was a motel here that he’d stayed at before. He figured the two of them could get some sleep and be back in the air the next morning with no issues.

Henry stood and peered out the window at the town below them. It was small, but it would do. The bay was rather pretty actually. The water reflected the orange glow of the setting sun, blending with the deep blue to create a mystical looking purple hue in parts of the sea. Light glittered and danced in the waves, reminiscent of a gem or a piece of jewellery. He could see the silhouettes of people on the docks. They were tying up their boats or carrying crates back to shore. There was a pair fishing off the end of one of the piers. Looked like a parent and a child from the size difference. He watched another figure take a running start before diving into the ocean, much to the amusement of their friends.

He was so focused on the view that he didn’t notice as the pilot came up behind him.

“Are you gonna take that off?” he asked. Henry turned, masking his surprise by giving him a questioning glance and a crooked smirk. The pilot’s eyes widened. “Not like- that’s not- I- I mean-” Charles halted his stammering and took a breath to compose himself before trying again. “What I meant was, I doubt we’d be very hidden if you walk around wearing a top hat and a trench coat.”

He laughed, uncrossing his arms and signing. “You sure you don’t want me to take any more off?” He winked at the pilot, whose face reddened.

“No!” he exclaimed. “No, I just… God, you’re impossible!” He stomped out of the cockpit, covering his face with his hands. “Just take off the hat at least!”

Henry shook his head to himself slowly, a large grin forming on his face. God, that man was too easy to tease.

He lifted his top hat off his head and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it. He also slipped off his trench coat and vest and hung them over his arm. He was left in a light grey-blue turtleneck sweater and his black dress pants and brown heeled boots. Not entirely normal, but a look Henry could pull off.

He moved a couple things from the pockets of his coat to the pockets of his pants as he moved out to the main area of the helicopter. Looking up, his steps faltered for a moment. Charles had taken off his military-issued, green jacket and was left in just a white tee.

Normally, that wouldn’t be cause for such a reaction, but Henry hadn’t prepared himself for how muscular he would be.

It makes sense that he’d have more muscle than Henry. Charles had done military training. Henry had not. The thief wasn’t much taller than him, but he was more often described as ‘lanky’ than anything else. His body was built more like a dancer’s than an athlete’s.

Henry shook his head, ridding his brain of the thought, and walked over to one of the metal benches. He folded his coat and vest neatly and placed them down with his hat on top of the pile. He caught Charles looking in his direction. He didn’t sign anything, but he did give him a look that said ‘what?’

“Nothing, nothing,” said the pilot, moving his headset to rest around his neck. “Never pegged you as someone so neat is all.”

Putting a hand to his chest and gasping dramatically, Henry feigned offence. He dropped the act to sign. “I try to present myself in a proper fashion as much as physically possible, thank you very much.”

“Your hair tells a bit of a different story, bud.”

Henry’s hands flew up to his white hair in defence. He made a scoffing sound, but couldn’t keep the smile from returning to his face.

Their friendship had always been effortless. Well, maybe not in this timeline, but in several others definitely. It’s like they just clicked perfectly. They had the same sense of humour. The same taste in music. The same opinions about many things. And sure there were plenty of differences, but they made for fun debates over the phone at three in the morning.

Henry missed that. Just talking casually with Charles. Do you know how hard it is being enemies with someone as positive as that? This banter was a nice change.

“We should probably get down there before we lose too much daylight,” Charles’ voice brought him back to reality. “Should probably find something to eat too, now that I think about it.”

“Sounds good to me,” Henry signed. He moved over to the door and slid it open, bowing slightly and gesturing out with a smug grin as if to say ‘after you’. Charles rolled his eyes, but walked out first anyway and turned back to wait for him. They walked down the hill, through the town, and towards the motel side by side.

The place actually looked a bit nice to be a motel. It consisted of a long, L-shaped building with two storeys around the back and side and a smaller building up the front. The entrance was blocked by a metal gate. Henry could see a small courtyard garden through the bars.

Not bad, he thought to himself.

Charles took him into the smaller building that looked to be a reception and rang the bell on the counter. A voice announced that they’d be there in a second, so they waited until a young androgynous person, probably in their early twenties, emerged through a door behind the counter.

They looked rather cheery, their smile appearing to be permanently painted on their face. It seemed contagious, much like someone else he knew. They had curly hair that was dyed a sky blue and styled into a mullet which, surprisingly, looked quite good on them. As they walked, they seemed to bounce happily unconsciously. Once they got closer, Henry could make out the name on their tag. ‘Sky’ it read in blocky letters. Well that explains the hair colour then.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait there,” Sky said in an accent that Henry couldn’t place. “‘Ow can I ‘elp youse?” They disregarded the chair that was at the counter and opted instead to stand and lean slightly on the wooden divider.

“Not a problem,” Charles said happily. “Can we just get a room for the night?”

“Just the one?” The pilot nodded. “A’ight was that one bed, or two?”

The pilot was about to answer when Henry stepped in. “One,” he said aloud, wrapping his arms around the brunette’s shoulders. “One bed, thank you.” He couldn’t wipe the smug grin on his face. Surely Charles was red in the face by now. Sky nodded and put their head down to do something behind the counter.

Charles turned to him, dropping an awkward smile in favour of a scowl. He signed a quick “I hate you” to Henry, who merely shrugged and chuckled quietly. Sky turned to grab a key off the rack behind the counter and turned back to the pair, placing it on the wooden surface.

“There’s your key, mate!” they chirped. “Your room is on the top storey, four from the end closest to us.” Charles nodded, having to adjust his headphones around his neck. Henry’s crazy hug had almost knocked them off. “Can I ‘elp youse with anythin’ else?”

Henry picked up the key. It was simple, like any old house key. He’d seen many like it in his days of thievery. A tag keychain was attached to it with the number 19 written on it in black marker. Charles answered the clerk’s question.

“Yes, uh, you wouldn’t happen to have somewhere to eat here, would you?” he asked. Sky shook their head.

“Not ‘ere we don’t,” they said. “But just next door’s a cafe-restaurant type deal. Place is actually pretty good, I go there on breaks. They make some bloody good croissants during breakfast. They should be open for another three-four hours.”

“Ok, thank you!” Charles said to the receptionist.

“No problem! ‘Ave a good one!” Sky waved them out the door before going back into the room behind the counter.

The pilot led Henry through the gate door, which was blocked by a simple lifting lock, and across the courtyard to the stairwell closest to the front of the lot. They climbed the stairs and walked along the veranda, looking at the numbers on the doors for their room. One... two... three... here it is. Room 19. Henry briefly considered showing off a little and picking the lock instead, but ultimately decided against it, opting for the key instead. He opened the door and waited politely for Charles to enter.

When both of them were inside, Henry surveyed the room, specifically looking for little nick-nacks to steal. It was rather plain, like most hotel rooms. There was a queen-sized bed in the middle of the room with a TV mounted on the opposite wall. A set of empty shelves attached to what was presumably an empty closet stood at the back of the room near a small hallway that probably led to a bathroom.

Henry walked across the carpet, closing the door behind him and leaving the room key on a small end table just under the light switch. He sat on one side of the bed and started going through the drawers in the bedside table.

“What are you doing?” Charles questioned, looking over from where he was in the doorway of the bathroom. Henry momentarily halted his searching to sign to him.

“What? You mean you don’t go through every drawer whenever you enter a hotel room?”

“Oh no! You are not stealing anything under my watch, Stickmin!” He pointed a finger at him accusingly. Henry raised his hands in defence, laughing a little before drawing a cross over his chest with his pointer finger. Charles raised an eyebrow before slipping into the bathroom and closing the door. The Toppat smiled mischievously and resumed his search.

In the first bedside table, he found a pair of ivory coloured dice with a drawing of a skull where it would normally show six points and another dice that looked like something used in Dungeons and Dragons. This one had twelve sides and was a beautiful, marbled blue colour with silver numbers. He slipped the dice into his pocket and moved to the other bedside table. The bottom drawer contained a bronze pendant with a raised floral design, but no chain or string. Knowing Ellie would like it, he slipped it into a hidden pocket in his boot and went to check the closet, making a mental note to find a matching chain later.

Charles came out of the bathroom before he could take anything from the closet.

“What did you steal?” he asked. Henry shook his head and moved his hands into view.

“Nothing,” he signed. “Nothing to steal.” Turning back to the closet, he noticed a chess piece laying down on one of the shelves that appeared to be made of glass. He picked it up and put it towards the light. It was a bishop piece. The glass was slightly scuffed in places, but other than that, it was rather beautiful.

Charles snatched the bishop out of his hand before he could do anything.

“No,” he scolded. “No stealing.”

“But why?” He dragged out his sign to mimic whining.

“It’s illegal.” The pilot put the chess piece down. “C’mon. Let’s go to get something to eat. The sooner we get food the sooner we can go to sleep.”

“You seem…” Charles had turned away and was already walking towards the door. Henry tapped his shoulder lightly to turn his attention back to him. “You seem awfully eager to get me in bed with you, flyboy,” he signed with a smug grin. The pilot’s face heated and he immediately turned on his heel and made for the door, fumbling to grab the key Henry had left on the table.

Laughing silently, the albino followed. He was definitely getting too much enjoyment out of this. Sven and Ellie would not let him hear the end of it if they found out.

Which is why Henry wasn’t going to tell them.

They made their way to the restaurant next door. The walk over had calmed Charles down, which was probably best, but Henry was of the opinion that Charles was cute when he was flustered. Had been in every other timeline before. This one was obviously no different.

The restaurant was nice, casual and laid back, but nice. It supported a kind of rustic style with a little bit of a modern twist. About six different groups of people sat in different parts of the establishment. One group was particularly loud. Three close friends from what he could see. Two of them seemed to be interrogating the other, who hid her face in her hands out of embarrassment. He looked at them with a small smile. It reminded him of a different time…

A sign at the door told them to wait to be seated. They didn’t wait long before a young boy, Jesus the kid had to be 15, came up to them. Henry noticed that his nametag was blank.

“Hey. Welcome to the Seaside Walk,” he said politely. The line was obviously rehearsed. Not that Henry could blame him though. Customer service was tough. “Are you eating in?”

“Yes, we are,” Charles replied. So this is a date now, is it? He kept the comment to himself this time. Poor Charles had already endured enough embarrassment for one night.

“Great. Was that inside or outside seating?”

Charles looked at Henry who only shrugged. “Either is fine.”

The boy nodded, grabbing two menus from a rack. “Follow me, I’ll take you to your table.”

He led them to a booth on a platform that was raised a couple steps from the main level of the restaurant. With a gesture and a polite nod, he left them to decide on their meals with the promise to return soon to take their orders. A family that was previously hidden from their view sat at a table in the same area. Seven groups. And he and Charles made eight. He kept the family in his peripherals as he perused the menu.

After ordering their food, which ended up being quite good for such a casual establishment Henry had to admit, they engaged in casual conversation. It was mostly just Charles trying to figure out how he’d escaped, but a magician never reveals his secrets.

Their meals were enjoyed mostly in silence, one of them occasionally cracking a joke or talking about the plan in the morning. The energy between the two was somehow both comfortable and slightly awkward.

Finishing their food and deciding to come back the next morning to get some of the croissants Sky insisted they try, there came the subject of paying.

“I’ll pay,” Henry offered. Charles shook his head, a smile on his face.

“With your stolen money?” he said with a short laugh. “Not a chance!” The pilot searched his pockets for his wallet to no avail. Henry held up the slightly damaged leather in his hand.

“No, seriously,” he signed with his other hand. “I got it.” He took out his own wallet and retrieved two twenties, slipping them in the bill and waiting for the waiter to return. He slid Charles’ wallet across the table with a grin. The ace was gobsmacked.

“When did you manage to take that?” he asked. Henry laughed.

“You’ll never know,” he signed with a mystical look on his face, making jazz hands after finishing the sentence. Charles rolled his eyes.

They returned to the motel in comfortable silence. Charles kept his hands in his pockets for the entire walk back, Henry assumed to protect himself from being pickpocketed again by the thief. A valiant effort, but not effort enough! Reaching their room once more, Charles went to take the key out of his pocket, only to discover that it was missing. Again. He shot Henry an unimpressed glare.

“What?” he signed innocently.

“Where’s the key, Henry?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“Dammit Henry! Just give me the key!”

Henry bent down to retrieve something from one of the hidden pockets in his boots. “Who needs keys,” he started. He pulled out a set of lockpicking tools. “When you have these?”

To be frank, yes, he had the key. He had stolen it from his temporary roommate when he took his wallet. Locks, for Henry, were treated as a challenge. He had made a habit of picking the locks to Ellie and Charles’ apartments in other timelines. He liked being able to relive that.

The lock was easy. Clearly whoever installed it wasn’t too worried about anyone wanting to break in. He opened the door cleanly and tossed Charles the key. Despite his surprise, he managed to catch it, looking between it and the thief who stole it. Shaking his head disapprovingly, he entered the room.

“Well I know who to find if I lose my keys in the future,” he commented. Henry cleared his throat and Charles turned to him expectantly.

“If you can find me, that is,” he signed. Charles shook his head again.

“I’m going to bed,” he said promptly before collapsing onto one side of the bed. He kicked off his sneakers and put his headphones on the bedside table.

Henry slipped off his boots, stretching out the balls of his feet. Heels made him look incredibly cool and he loved them, but sometimes he found his feet hurt after wearing them for too long and doing too much in them. He did escape a government holding cell earlier that day after all.

Neither of them had clothes to change into for the night, so they slept in their regular clothes. Henry felt for Charles who had to sleep in what looked to be some kind of jean fabric. He knew first hand how uncomfortable that was. He’d managed to knock himself out eventually anyway. Lucky. Henry’s insomniac nature prevented him from getting to sleep so easily.

Still, after about an hour or so, the Toppat Leader finally managed to doze off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up being wayy longer than I intended. Heh. Whoops.


	3. Good Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nightmare, a memory, and people are still looking for Henry it would seem. Oh, fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not particularly proud of this chapter. It's all just filler at this point. Stuff will happen! I promise!

Run. Run. Run!

Through familiar halls, Henry ran. Familiar, only they didn’t look how he remembered them. They were somehow both brighter and darker at the same time. Markings were missing. Some that didn’t exist at all. Some were there, but he struggled to even make out faintly what was written.

His body felt light and heavy at the same time. He felt dissociated from the world around him. He heard the sounds of his shoes against the metal, but he didn’t feel his feet hit the floor.

He glanced back. What was he running from?

Someone was running behind him, but, from what he could tell, they didn’t seem hostile. They were on his side. Running not at him, but with him. Strange. He didn’t hear the sounds of their shoes against the metal.

He tried to make out his ally’s face. They had a face, that was certain, but Henry couldn’t really ‘see’ any features. Despite this, a name came to mind.

Charles.

This was Charles.

He stopped and suddenly they weren’t in the halls anymore. They were in an incredibly small room with three chairs. Charles was talking to him. He sounded relieved. Henry couldn’t make out what he was saying. His words seemed to echo over and over in his head.

The conversation was cut off as someone yanked Henry violently out of the room. His body anyway. His consciousness seemed to linger in his chair for a moment before following.

He felt like he was falling forever, but time didn’t necessarily slow down.

The fall was only halted by someone throwing him in the opposite direction. He found himself sitting in a chair again, only this time, Charles wasn’t with him.

Oh no.

No. No, no!

“Don’t worry about me! I’ll uh…”

No, not again!

“I’ll find another way!”

No! No!

The room was pulled away. Charles’ voice got further and further away. Henry felt as if he was watching his body from a hundred metres away.

“Henry? You there?”

His head felt fuzzy. His knees felt weak. His hands were shaking.

Not again! He couldn’t let him die again!

“Man, that roughed me up. Got ‘im though!”

Henry could feel the tears forming already. He tried to blink them away.

“Gotta be another escape pod around here somewhere.”

Charles’ words echoed in Henry’s mind. No. No! He wasn’t going to die!

“We did it though. We got ‘em.”

No no no no no! Charles!

“Pretty good plan.”

Charles! No! Please!

“Could say it was the greatest-”

“Charles!”

The tears were flowing down his face freely now. His entire reality seemed to be shaking. The escape pod came crashing down to Earth.

Henry hoped he wouldn’t survive the impact.

\---

Charles woke slowly. It was still dark. He noticed through the crack in the poorly patterned curtains of their motel room that the sun hadn’t even begun to rise. The digital clock on his bedside read ‘1:07 AM’ in green, blocky numbers.

He sat up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. Something had disturbed his sleep. He couldn’t place what, but something had. That’s when he heard shifting next to him.

“No…” Henry’s voice came out in a whisper. He sounded so defenceless.

The Toppat Leader was shaking so much he was basically vibrating. Charles managed to see in the darkness that he had curled in on himself, keeping his knees very, very close to his chest. The pilot felt obligated to help him, but he didn’t know how.

He turned on the lamp, blinding himself temporarily. He winced for a moment but forgot about the pain almost immediately.

Henry was hyperventilating. He couldn’t stop shaking. His cheeks were stained with tears. He was whispering to himself. Charles was about to wake him when-

“Charles!”

His name. Henry said his name in his sleep.

His hand was frozen in mid-air. He didn’t know what to think. Why? What was Henry dreaming about that would force him to say his name like that? He seemed scared. He was crying. What had he done to him?

Charles shook himself out of his thoughts and put a hand on Henry’s shoulder.

“Henry,” he said quickly. “Henry. Wake up.” No response. “Henry, c’mon.” Still no response. Charles moved him as best he could to sit up. It didn’t go so well. “Henry. Hey. I’m here.” Henry’s breathing began to slow. “I’m here,” he repeated.

They stayed for a bit. Charles had his arms partially around the Toppat’s shoulders. He was scared to move. He didn’t want to startle him. He may not have dealt with Henry like this, but being in the army has itself some… similar situations.

Henry moved first. He was still mostly curled up, but he had turned to face the pilot. God, he looked terrible! His eyes were red and still wet from the tears. His hair was all tangled on one side and he was still shaking a little.

Without any warning, he pulled the ace pilot into a hug, burying his face into his chest. Charles’ breath hitched and his heart rate picked up a little. He hoped Henry didn’t notice. He felt his breathing through his shirt and the slight shaking as Henry held onto him tightly. Hesitantly, Charles returned the hug.

He ran his hand slowly through the albino’s white hair, hoping it would help to calm him down. It did. Henry’s grip on him slowly relaxed, and he got out some of the knots in the process.

Again, Henry was the first to move. He slowly released the hug and moved away from the pilot awkwardly. Charles adjusted his position so he was sitting cross-legged. He looked up at the thief who was looking down into his lap uncomfortably.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Charles said, barely above a whisper.

Yes. Yes, he did. He wanted to explain everything to him. Tell him about the mission. How they were friends. That he faked his death. That he…

But he knew he couldn’t. He’d become a shaking mess and his hands wouldn’t work. His voice would be caught in his throat and nothing would come out. It had happened before. Charles had been patient with him then. He wasn’t so sure he’d have that same patience now.

He met the pilot’s eyes. Charles’ eyes were always fascinating to him. One was a deep blue, the sea, holding many wonders and mysteries. The other a bright hazel-yellow, the sun. Joyful, and cheerful, and just overall positive. Henry liked his eyes. They were pretty.

“Maybe a little,” he signed slowly. The government agent moved a little closer to him. When they had just woken up, the lamplight was blindingly bright, but now it was a lot dimmer. 

“I’m listening,” Charles said calmly. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Henry took a moment. Surely he could tell Charles some things. That wouldn’t hurt, right? He took a moment to get his story straight.

“About a year ago,” Henry started, “maybe a year and a half, I lost someone close to me. It was an accident. They were involved in an explosion during a heist.” He almost signed ‘mission’. “We were trying to get out. Someone pulled them back in before it went off. It still haunts me sometimes…”

“Henry, I…” Charles didn’t know what to say. He sympathised with him. He had lost a few friends during missions. “You must’ve been really close.”

“We were,” Henry signed. Charles noticed the pink that rose to his cheeks. Well, he didn’t mean like that, but that would certainly make sense. He couldn’t help but smile a little.

“Wow. Crushing on another Charles are we? I’m hurt, Stickmin.” He said it before he could stop himself. Way to go, Calvin. Henry looked at him, a mix of amusement and shock in his eyes.

“How did you know his name was Charles?”

“Has no one told you?” Henry gave him a confused look. “You talk in your sleep. You practically yelled it. I thought you were dreaming about me.” He said the last sentence in a poor attempt at matching Henry’s smooth smugness. The Toppat only smirked.

“You wish, flyboy!” he signed after hitting him playfully in the arm.

They stayed up for a while after that. Laughing, sharing stories, generally cracking jokes. Before they even knew it, it was almost 5:00 AM. They mutually decided to get more sleep and began laying themselves down for bed. Charles was out not long after he turned out the light. Henry may have ‘accidentally’ shuffled over a bit closer to him and used his chest as a pillow.

Feeling the gentle rise and fall of his chest and listening to the steady mantra of his heartbeat, Henry let himself slip into sleep for the second time that night.

\---

“Steal everything you want in there?” Charles asked Henry before locking the door. He knew locking it wouldn’t do anything. The thief had demonstrated last night after getting back from the restaurant that locks were something he could easily brush aside if he found them in his way. Smug bastard.

“Yes,” Henry signed, a grin on his face. “I’m pretty proud of my haul actually.” He then proceeded to retrieve the pilot’s phone from his pants pocket and show it off mischievously.

Charles took his phone back, trying to scowl. But he couldn’t help the small smile that found its way to his features. “Yeah, yeah. I get it,” he said, slightly annoyed. “You’re good at this. Now c’mon. Let’s go give this key back and get breakfast so we can get back in the air.”

The pair passed only a couple other guests on their way towards the reception building. When they walked in, Sky was already up and about, working on something on the computer at the desk, before turning and rummaging around in a drawer for something and returning to the computer. They glanced up when they walked in and smiled at them kindly, recognition in their eyes.

“G’day, g’day!” they greeted. “‘Ow was your night?” So they were Australian. Charles thought so, but their accent was a little different to other Australians he knew. Must’ve been the time in America. Charles didn’t know their life.

“It was great,” Charles said with a smile. “And you?”

“I ‘ad the night shift,” Sky replied. “I get off in ‘bout an hour. Get some much-needed sleep.” Charles nodded sympathetically. Boy did he know how night shifts felt. Sometimes he’d be flying for hours and hours on end. “You two checking out?”

“Yep.”

“A’ight. I’ll just get your key back from you and get you to pay for the night.”

Charles obliged, paying for the room before Henry had the chance to swoop in like he did at dinner last night. They said their goodbyes to Sky and left the motel, heading back towards the Seaside Walk to grab some croissants for breakfast. It was a little surprising they were open this early.

After being greeted by a not particularly enthusiastic woman, they made their way to the counter to order. They could smell the pastries from the door. Sky was right about them making them from scratch every morning. A few people were already waiting to receive their orders, some walking away with paper bags, a trail of steam seeping out through the opening at the top.

The pair ordered two croissants. A blueberry one for the infamous thief, and a chocolate one for the government agent. What? He was a sweet tooth. He couldn’t help it. Henry also ordered an iced coffee.

“I’m paying this time,” Charles said pointedly.

“What? No!” Henry protested with wild hands. “You paid for the room!”

“But you paid for dinner!”

“And you don’t even have your wallet!”

Charles sighed. Of course, he stole his damn wallet again. He watched him put it away. He caved and put his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, okay,” he said, fighting the smile that made its way to his face. “You win. You can pay.”

Henry smiled and tossed back the pilot’s wallet, which he almost dropped. He paid for their food and drink, with money that was most certainly stolen, and they set off towards the helicopter. It would’ve been a quick walk if they didn’t have to hide from people in green uniforms who were not so casually patrolling the streets.

The government.

How did they even find them? Was there a tracker in the helicopter or something?

The pair were hidden in a small crowd who were surveying the soldiers and whispering amongst themselves.

Across the street, General Galeforce was talking to a group of men and women clothed in green. He was pointing all around the place, certain people peeling off to carry out whatever orders he was giving. His voice was too hushed for them to hear, but he looked noticeably stressed. Man, Henry’s escape must’ve really gotten to him.

Henry had to duck down a bit to keep himself from being noticed. It’s not every day you see someone with bright white hair. Charles felt for him then. Squatting down like that was so much pain! The Toppat didn’t seem to notice though. His eyes flicked from side to side as he rested a hand on his chin. He was thinking. And then it was as if a light bulb had visibly lit up in his head. He turned to the pilot with wide eyes.

“There’s a tracker in my hat,” he signed quickly. “We use it in the station to keep an eye on where everyone is on Earth. It’s a safety measure, but it’s not accurate. I think they got someone to hack into it remotely.”

Charles nodded slowly. “Okay, so we just need to destroy it.” Why was he helping him? He should be happy that the government thought this far ahead! He should waltz right up to them and tell them he was being held hostage! He technically was! Henry had even held him at gunpoint and threatened to cause destruction! And then he remembered last night.

He was so vulnerable. He trusted Charles with some very personal information. He’d even fallen asleep all cuddled up with him. Yeah, he noticed that. The pilot had woken up a blushing mess.

“No.” Henry shook his head. “If we break it, it alerts the station. Then we’d have to deal with the Toppats coming down thinking I’ve been killed or something and that’d be a mess. If we can just get to the helicopter, I can get it out and we can leave.” He seemed to have a plan. Alright. Time for a stealth operation.

It was surprisingly easy to blend in with the crowds and get to the outskirts of town without being spotted. However, the government had set up a sort of perimeter around the town. People were getting their IDs checked before being let in or out. Now that was a problem.

Charles felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face Henry, who was trying to sign to him. “We need to find a spot that isn’t as guarded,” he said. “If we can find one with only two guards, we can take them out.” Charles must’ve made a face because Henry quickly added, “Not kill them! Just knock them out! We can make a beeline into the trees from there.”

Charles hesitantly agreed. He didn’t entirely feel the best about taking out someone who was on his side. But, they made their way around the edge of the town, hopping from one group to another. No one even seemed to notice them.

Luckily, they were able to find an area that wasn’t even guarded at all. A group of teen delinquents were hanging around a beat-up old pickup truck, some sitting on milk crates and others on the bonnet of the car. One was joking about how the government was here for them while he twirled a baseball bat around in his hand, ultimately landing it on his shoulder. His friends all laughed and continued to build on his joke.

“Ignore them,” Henry signed. “Don’t draw attention to yourself. Just keep walking.”

Unfortunately for them, they had to pass right close by them to make it out of town. Charles wasn’t the best at stealth. He often found himself trying to fill the void of silence or tripping over his own feet and drawing attention. He just followed Henry closely and kept his mouth as shut as possible.

They passed the kids without issue and were quick to make it to the treeline. Both sighing in relief, they climbed the hill towards the helicopter.

Henry, upon reaching the vehicle and getting inside, was quick to pick up his top hat and fish around inside it. He pulled out a small, circular device with a blinking red light. The Toppat made a humming noise before stepping back out onto the hill. Charles peered out the door.

With all his might, Henry took a step back, retracted his arm, and hurled the device into the sun. He pulled his hat back onto his head, a satisfied grin on his face.

“They’re going to have fun finding that,” he signed smugly. Charles shook his head.

They both put on the clothes they had abandoned the night before, Henry moving some of his things back to the pockets of his trench coat. Charles got to work starting up the helicopter. The blades began to spin rapidly and the engine created a whirring noise. Henry sat himself down in the copilot’s seat, just as he had the day before, and crossed one leg over the other.

They lifted off and Charles brought them up. His headphones had migrated from around his neck back to his ears and he had a smile on his face. The helicopter flew off in the direction of Henry’s coordinates.

“And we’re in the clear!” Charles exclaimed, dragging out the ‘a’ sound in the word ‘and’. “That was too close for comfort! I can’t believe I just ran from the General like that!” Henry gave him a sympathetic look and began to sign something. The government agent stopped him. “It’s alright. I’d rather get you out after what happened last night.” There was a moment of silence. “I guess you could say this morning, actually.” He laughed a little.

“I’m sorry I put you through that, Charles,” Henry said softly. Not signed. Said. Out loud. Now that wasn’t the first time he’d heard Henry’s voice. He’d spoken before, just not directly to him. And that was also the first time he’d called him ‘Charles’. The pilot couldn’t help but blush.

“I-it’s okay!” Charles stammered. “I’ve dealt with worse. Being in the army and all that.” Henry nodded. “Thank you for trusting me with that information. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you.” Charles didn’t notice, but Henry’s eyes had gotten a little teary at that. If only you knew, dear Charlie.

If only you knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it just me, or are these chapters getting longer?


	4. And We're Off!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mostly uneventful helicopter ride with a very eventful end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one's a fair bit shorter than the last one, but shit happens, so it's worth it!
> 
> Also, be prepared because this is when I decided people would swear. Sorry if that isn't your thing!

“We’re still friends actually. Funny how that works, isn’t it? We went from hating each other’s guts to being almost inseparable. Yeah, she’ll never let me forget all the times she won arguments with me.” Charles finished his story, earning another giggle from Henry. Charles was telling him about his life to pass the time while in the air. The pilot had gotten surprisingly comfortable with him over the past nearly 24 hours.

The story was how he and another cadet, June July her name was, went to the same high school. They were bitter rivals for so long, Henry couldn’t understand why, but they eventually made up in their senior year and became the best of friends. They even trained as cadets at the same time!

He’d heard this one before, but every time it was told, he learned something new. This time, he learned that they were actually paired up for a group project once in Chemistry. The teacher was convinced it would help them get along, but in fact, it only made matters worse. Both of them had intentionally tampered with their project and the sabotage resulted in June severely burning her arm. She still had the scar to show for it.

Needless to say, Charles was very sorry for the accident. Not at the time, but now he was.

“How about you, Henry?” Charles asked, bringing the thief out of his thoughts. “Any random stories from your time at school?” He looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to sign his answer.

“Not really,” Henry replied in ASL. “I dropped out of high school around halfway through my junior year. Wasn’t really one for all the academics and rules. I mostly spent my time struggling to pass.”

“Damn, that’s not so good.” Henry nodded in agreement. “Got straight into crime after that?”

“I got bisexual into crime after that,” Henry corrected, adding a little wink in the pilot’s direction. He noticed as the tan face of the government agent got a little redder. The Toppat smirked smugly.

He was about to make a joke when he felt something in his hat begin to vibrate. Ellie was calling him. He’d implemented a sort of communications system in the hats of a few of the higher ranking operatives in the Clan. It made it easier to communicate plans to squad leaders and get their bearings of the field without needing to be there. How did he know it was Ellie? Well, she was the only one who couldn’t be bothered to charge her phone and had a habit of letting it die in emergencies. She always opted to call him via this system.

“Hold on,” he signed quickly to Charles. “I’ve got a call incoming.” He stood up, leaning his arms against the chair to steady himself.

“Oh, no, no problem,” the pilot said. “Take your time.” He slowed the helicopter down enough that Henry could stand without being toppled over.

He tilted his hat a little to the side and slipped out an earpiece with a black cord attached leading back up into the hat. He put it in his ear and pressed a button on the outside. His eardrum was immediately assaulted by a familiar female voice.

“Henry!” Ellie screamed into the ether. “Henry! Holy shit! Are you alive?”

“Ye- yes!” Henry stuttered, his voice much quieter than his Right Hand Lady’s.

“Jesus Christ, Henry!” she continued, still yelling, but not as loud as she was when the conversation began. “You can’t scare me like that! We thought they got you!”

“No, I-” Henry couldn’t get another word in before Ellie interrupted.

“Unless they did get you. Quick, Henry! If you’re in trouble say flank steak! No, wait! If you’re in trouble say nothing!”

“I’m not-”

“Good! That’s good. Wait, what if you’re not Henry?”

“El-”

“What’s my middle name?” This one was easy. He and Ellie had shared minor personal facts like this about themselves in the case that they were ever impersonated.

“Jane. Ellie, can you-”

“Oh thank Christ!” Ellie finally took a moment. She took an audible breath before continuing in a calmer, more casual tone. “What happened? Your tracker broke a couple minutes ago and we lost sight of you.”

It seemed the government had finally found the tracker he threw in no particular direction. Henry smiled at the mental image of Galeforce dramatically smashing it after being notified that he had been outsmarted by Henry yet again.

“They only found the tracker,” Henry explained. “They didn’t find me. I’m already far from where they are.” Henry found himself pacing while talking, his heels making soft clanging sounds against the metal floor of the helicopter. “We’re gonna need to look into updating our tracker system. The government has figured out how to hack into the ones we have. That’s the only way they could’ve found us so quickly.”

“Okay,” Ellie said. “I’ll get that request to Burt and he can send it out. Wait ‘us’ you say?”

Ah, crap. “I uh…” Henry paused. He didn’t entirely feel right calling Charles a hostage. That was exactly what he was in this situation, but it still didn’t feel right. “I took a hostage. Better than travelling on foot.”

The thief’s throat was beginning to feel dry from how much talking he was doing. His voice was starting to sound a little raspy.

“I’ll be at a ground base in about three hours,” he told Ellie after checking a gold wristwatch with small diamonds around the rim. What? He was a thief! You think he’s not going to take advantage of that? “The one directly west of where I was when my tracker went dead.”

“What?” Ellie sounded confused. “We haven’t used that base in months! It’s been completely abandoned since the earthquake.”

“Roger that,” Henry said casually. He was trying to convey a message to her. Charles was bound to be listening. Even if he wasn’t purposefully eavesdropping, he was bound to catch parts of his side of the conversation.

Ground Base 3-7C had been abandoned by the Toppat Clan after an earthquake had basically ripped a hole in the centre of the bunker. The base was primarily underground and still partially functional. Conveniently for Henry, the teleportation beam that was linked to the station was completely operational.

“You’ve got a plan, don’t you?” Ellie asked. Henry chuckled slyly.

“Did you expect any less of me?” he responded to her question with one of his own. The redhead on the other end sighed.

“Just take care, Boss. Contact me when you get to the base.”

“I will. You too, Ellie.”

She cut the connection and Henry put the earpiece back into his hat, adjusting it slightly as it fell to an odd angle. The top hat was a little too big for his head. It hadn’t been made for him. It was made for a guy named Terrence Suave, the leader of the Toppat Clan before Reginald.

From what Henry had been told, he was the worst leader they’d ever had. The guy would organise raids that made no sense and put the lives of the Clan in danger simply for the thrill of it. He was selfish and didn’t care at all for the people he led. Henry was glad Reg had overthrown him. The man sounded like he deserved it.

Reginald had taken his top hat and worn it with his own as a symbol. He had then passed the hat on to Henry when he became the leader of the Clan. Henry intended to pass it on to whoever took over from him. Kind of like passing the baton.

Henry sat back down in the copilot’s seat. He felt Charles’ blue and yellow eyes trained on him for a moment.

“Who was that?” he asked out of pure curiosity.

“That was my Right Hand Lady,” Henry signed. “She was worried I’d gotten captured again.”

“Right Hand Lady? Ellie Rose, right?” Charles asked. “She’s that jewel thief who got caught and taken to the Wall. I think she was caught up in a fight club too, wasn’t she?”

Henry nodded. Looks like Charles had been doing his research! “Never try to fight her hand-to-hand,” Henry advised. “I can tell you from personal experience that it does not end well.”

Charles’ responding laugh was a mix of nervous and amused. “Oh jeez! What happened?”

“Broke my arm and leg. Bruised everything else. And she said she was going easy on me!”

“Oh boy! I will keep that in mind then! She has no reason to go easy on me!”

The two shared a laugh. Henry reminisced on when the two of them were friends.

Ellie and Charles had known each other through Henry. The thief had called Charles to pick them both up from the Wall after they escaped in the riot. He knew Charles would come. Ellie wasn’t the quickest to trust him. Understandably so. He was a high ranking government agent, and she was a wanted criminal. She’d trusted Henry because he helped her escape when he could’ve left her behind. She trusted Charles only by association.

Unsurprisingly to Henry, the two became close friends rather quickly. The three of them were practically made to find each other. Their mutual love for chaos and their proficiency with shenanigans made them unstoppable. A ‘Triple Threat’, as Henry liked to call it.

The first time Ellie and Charles had trained together was… simultaneously both fun to watch and horrifying to witness. Charles was good, he could stand his ground very well, but the combat he was trained in did not match the aggressiveness of Ellie’s. She had broken several of his ribs and his right hand. She had apologised profusely, of course. But since then, she had decided to spar in a more defensive stance. Over time, she had gotten better at controlling the strength behind her attacks.

In this timeline, however? That control was never there to begin with.

Charles, noticing the Toppat Chief was lost in thought, took the opportunity to save the coordinates Henry had put into the navigation system. He should’ve done this while he was still talking to his Right Hand, but the thought hadn’t even occurred to him. He just had to hope his movements were as subtle as Henry’s were when he was picking someone’s pockets.

They weren’t.

Oh, Charles. Such a chaotic person, and yet so predictably good. Why was Henry so in love with this man?

Most of the rest of the flight was spent mostly in silence. Henry was just happy to be in Charles’ presence again. He’d missed just sitting here with him, watching the clouds float past as they flew. Charles had taken him flying after he found out he was alive. They both really needed it. He ended up having to land because he couldn’t see through the tears in his eyes!

Henry had confessed to him then. Just his luck too. Figures the only time he was able to do it, his boyfriend…

No. He couldn’t think about that now. He was not going to cry in front of Charles again!

Finding he needed to fiddle with something, Henry fished around one of the pockets of his trench coat. He pulled out the glass bishop that he managed to take from the room without the government agent beside him noticing. As he twirled it around in his fingers, he heard a short laugh from the brunette.

“I knew you’d find a way to steal that without me noticing,” he said. “I just knew it! Can you ever not steal something, Stickmin?”

Henry shook his head, a crooked smile finding its way to his face. Charles sighed.

“You’re really something, you know that?”

“Thank you,” Henry signed with his free hand. “I try.”

The distance between them and their destination finally closed a couple hours later. Charles set up the helicopter so it would remain idle in midair on its own before getting up, intending to help Henry with a parachute. Henry shook his head, refusing it politely.

Charles stood there for a few moments, blinking in confusion. They were over 700 feet in the air! Maybe a little unfavourable for a parachute, but he surely wouldn’t survive that fall!

Regardless, the Toppat Leader slid the door open and placed a hand on the side, surveying the world below him.

“What are you doing?” Charles asked urgently, clutching onto the military green backpack. “You’re not gonna survive that fall!”

“I’ll be fine,” Henry signed. “I have a plan.”

Before Charles could argue further, he felt hands on his arms. Henry pulled him closer, gazing into his eyes. A pink blush crossed both of their faces as they stood there in silence, save for the mechanical whir of the blades overhead.

The Toppat slowly brought a hand to Charles’ cheek, touching it tenderly. He grazed his thumb over his skin, savouring the feel as if it was the last time he’d see him. Charles wasn’t sure what to feel. He was surprised, confused, a little frightened, a little scared. Still, there was a part of him that felt happy? Safe? Loved? ...Aroused?

No! No no no no nope! Absolutely not! No way! Not dealing with that right now! Not a chance! Nope!

Now, Charles wasn’t, by any means, an asshole, but half his mind screamed for him to Sparta kick the thief out of his helicopter right that very moment. He couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Thank you, Charles.” Henry spoke to him in a voice that sent chills down his spine. He hadn’t even noticed his face had gotten closer until he felt the soft kiss on his cheek. He tensed, his eyes widened, his vision went a little foggy, and his face burned a bright red.

Henry still wore that signature, shit-eating, smug ass smile. He reached up and tipped his hat a little, not letting go of the pilot’s cheek with the other. “It’s been fun.”

And with that, he fell backwards. His hand stayed on Charles’ cheek until he could no longer reach him. The pilot almost fell forwards with him before he caught himself and hugged the parachute in momentary fear.

The parachute. Henry didn’t have a parachute!

Charles scrambled to look out the door down at the man who just kissed him. Henry Stickmin had kissed his cheek. Then he jumped out of his helicopter. But he’d kissed him!

Did Henry seriously just fucking do that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well then. Wasn't that exciting?~


	5. Home Sweet Space Station

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry makes it back to his home in the stars, followed by some particularly gay thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I haven't updated this in a while. Sorry 'bout that.
> 
> Who needs an updating schedule when you have chaos?

Did Henry seriously just fucking do that?

Henry let himself free fall for a moment, both hands gripped onto the rim of his hat as he silently questioned his life choices. He pressed a small button hidden by the gold chain wrapped around the base of his top hat and a set of miniature helicopter blades emerged and began spinning. The fall was halted and Henry’s body swung around as a result of the sudden change in movement. He refused to focus on anything but getting himself safely to the ground.

When he landed somewhat gracefully on his knees and the blades retracted back into his hat, that’s when he allowed himself to start dying on the inside.

Why did he do that? He really didn’t need to kiss him like that! What was he thinking?

He wasn’t, was the answer to that question. That was kind of smooth though, right? He was proud of that at least.

The Toppat Chief looked up from his Superhero Landing™ at the government helicopter. He could see a hint of red headphones looking down at where he’d landed and that was enough for him to get up and take off into the bushes just nearby. Hiding his blushing face with his hat, he ducked down in the greenery and waited for Charles to leave.

It took the ace pilot about ten minutes to collect himself enough to fly the helicopter again. Henry watched silently as it left towards the direction they came from.

“Fuck,” he muttered quietly to himself. He massaged the bridge of his nose and gave himself a chance to breathe. Then, he emerged from the bushes and made his way to a small cave opening in a nearby incline There was a hidden keypad for entry. He typed in the code, which was updated monthly across all Ground Bases, and stepped back as the bay doors groaned open.

The base had been completely cleaned out save for the majority of the equipment and the stuff that was bolted down. Henry made his way through the halls to the Communications Bay. The room was, thankfully, one of the furthest rooms from where the earthquake had hit.

Upon reaching it, he booted up the large computer and linked it with the communications of the station. He didn’t have to wait long before the screen showed him an image of a concerned Ellie, Reginald, and Right Hand Man, who Henry had lovingly nicknamed ‘Robo Right’ after becoming closer with him. Honestly, he felt a little bad for putting him in that position.

“Henry!” Ellie shouted. “Thank god! There you are!” Henry chuckled, shaking his head.

Reginald spoke up next. “She’s been stressed since we came back from the heist,” he explained. “We came back and said you’d been captured and she immediately started scolding us for not going after you!”

“I told you to leave me for a reason!” Henry signed. “I’ve broken out of more cells than I can count! Never found one I couldn’t escape! How are your cybernetics, Right? They got rather damaged in that fight.”

During the heist where Henry was captured, the government showed up to foil their plans. Right had suffered many injuries, including many of his robotic functions being broken. A bullet had hit him in the shoulder right where one of his power cores were and he had to endure most of the fight without being able to use half his weapons.

“Just ‘ad to get my core replaced and some wiring fixed,” Right explained, internally grateful for Henry’s concern. “Nothin’ too major.” Henry nodded.

“Well?” Ellie said expectantly. “Are you coming up, or what?”

Henry nodded again and signed a quick “See you soon” before hanging up the video call. He prepared the transportation beam, which was basically just a large, and far more accurate, thank God, teleporter, and stepped inside. He took a breath and let himself be engulfed in bright green light.

He appeared moments later in the Communications Bay on board the station, much to the surprise of one such Burt Curtis. The Toppat jumped a little in his chair as he saw Henry step out from the teleporter nonchalantly.

“Boss?” he questioned. “What are you doing here? Weren’t you captured by the government?”

“Yep! I was,” Henry signed, putting more flair and emphasis on the word ‘was’.

Henry was almost toppled onto the floor as a particular redhead became a little too enthusiastic to see him again. She came running at him and jumped into a rather aggressive hug. It seemed she brought a friend along because Henry was actually toppled over as a second person ran at him. As the three of them became just a laughing heap on the floor, the Chief managed to figure out who the second person was.

He wore a white button-up with blue dress pants and a matching blue vest. He didn’t wear a blazer. He’d always complained about how they restricted his movement. The guy had blond hair and a blue top hat. This was Sven Svensson.

“You really had us going there for a minute, Boss,” Sven said, relief in his voice. “We were all worried! We hadn’t heard from you!”

Henry calmed down enough to sign. “I’m so touched,” he said half-jokingly. He really did appreciate their concern. “I stole something for you guys.” He started digging around his pockets for the things he stole in the motel. He gave the glass bishop to Sven and the bronze pendant to Ellie. They both really seemed to like their gifts.

“Don’t give my boyfriend too many presents, Boss,” Burt said in a monotone voice. He said everything in a monotone voice. But, those who were closer with him could tell that this was joking.

“Don’t worry, Burt,” Henry signed playfully. “I think he’s too infatuated with you to really care what I give him.”

Ellie snorted. Sven hit his arm. Burt just smiled softly at his Swedish boyfriend.

“Thank you, Henry,” Ellie said. “I like it. It’s pretty.” She was rubbing her thumb softly over the floral engravings of the pendant, a small smile on her face. The movement reminded him of his hand on Charles’ face. And how he’d kissed him. And how he…

Henry desperately fought back a blush as he stood and wiped the non-existent dust off himself. He offered his hand to Ellie, who took it gladly. She smoothed the creases in her brown dress pants and adjusted her pink blazer and matching pink top hat. Burt had already helped Sven up and had intertwined their hands as he was showing him the chess piece.

Reginald and Right walked in calmly a few seconds later. They came up to their leader and his second in command.

“Are you alright, Henry?” Reginald asked, to which Henry nodded. “Ellie mentioned you took a hostage. You don’t normally do that.”

Henry sighed. “This was a special case.” He came up with his excuse on the spot. “I was in the middle of a fortified military base surrounded completely by forest and high ranking military personnel. There was no way I was getting far from there on my own.”

The other Toppat seemed satisfied with that answer. The four of them walked through the halls and spoke about what the Clan had been up to in Henry’s absence. Every now and then, they’d pass another member, or group of members, who would smile and welcome him back. He told the other three about his hostage, Charles, having the coordinates for the abandoned base.

“So there was a reason you went there!” Ellie proclaimed. “You gave them the location of a base that isn’t even used anymore so they wouldn’t find the ones we do use!”

“Smart thinking there, ‘Enry,” Right complimented. Henry bowed his head a little.

“Now that he has the coordinates, we can expect scouts to show up at that location,” Henry continued. “If we keep their attention on that spot, we can distract them while we-”

“Henry!” He was interrupted by the familiar call of a younger voice. He turned to see a girl with a black top hat, detailed with leaves around the base. She wore a button-up shirt of the same dark green and dark grey dress pants. She ran down the hall towards them, her many silver earrings and chains clinking against one another as she ran. She pulled Henry into a hug.

Her name was Bobbi Jackson. She was the youngest official member of the Toppat Clan, being only 16 when she joined. Henry and Reginald had both made connections with the children of the Clan’s members as leaders. Bobbi had grown up under Reginald’s leadership and thought of him as an uncle. She joined a year ago under Henry’s leadership, after much convincing. She loved them both, and both of their Right Hands, like they were family.

“Glad to see you’re back, Boss!” she chirped as she pulled away from the hug.

“Glad to be back,” Henry signed with Ellie translating. Bobbi was a great kid, but she couldn’t learn another language to save her life! “How’s school been for you?”

The black-haired girl rolled her eyes. She attended school on Earth as an exchange student because no one up here was qualified to teach her what she wanted to pursue. Bobbi was smart, despite her character, and rather excelled in science-based subjects like chemistry. She had quite a lot of potential to go far in the field.

“I am starting to regret taking three sciences,” she admitted, laughing a little. She was in her last year of schooling and the major exams were around the corner.

“You should sleep, Bobbi,” Henry told her.

“And if you want to do well on these exams, you’re not allowed to come on any heists,” Reginald pointed out, causing the teen to sigh dramatically.

“But why, Uncle Reggie?”

“Because gettin’ a good grade on your exams is more important than stealin’ something shiny,” Right reasoned.

Ellie bent down and whispered something to her. Henry didn’t have to be psychic to know she was going to take her out on a heist during one of her free days. He could see that in the redhead’s smirk and the way Bobbi’s eyes lit up with excitement before she blinked it away and huffed.

“Fine!” she sighed, giving Ellie a quick wink before skipping down the hallway in the direction she was initially headed.

Ellie was confronted by three men all giving her the same deadpan expression.

“What?” she said defensively. “Let the girl loosen up a bit! I’ll only take her out when she doesn’t have an exam. It’ll give her a mind a bit of a break. Science is hard!”

Henry couldn’t argue with her there.

The four of them continued their casual discussion. It was honestly amazing how close he had gotten with Right and Reg, especially after what Henry had done to them. Right Hand Man was barely recognisable. His hair was still long, still long enough for Reginald to braid when either one got anxious, but half of it no longer grew because of his cybernetics.

When Ellie first saw Right Hand Man, her reaction was rather amusing. Henry remembered her asking what happened to him. They became a little too preoccupied with the government raid for him to answer, but when he did, he had only signed the word “me” with a smug grin on his face.

Needless to say, Ellie was very impressed.

The group eventually reached Lounge 5 on the left side of the station. It was a rather cozy area, with many sofas and comfortable seating areas surrounding tables, entertainment systems, near bookshelves, and some just on their own. There was a cafe-like area just across the room from them where people could make themselves a tea, coffee, or other similar beverage, or grab themselves a small snack while they were just hanging around.

Many Toppats were already in there. Henry found his eyes drawn to a particularly rowdy group huddled around an entertainment system, each one of them clutching a controller for dear life. An eruption of defeated “no”s sounded from about half the group and a few of the others sat back with grins on their faces, one pair reaching over to hi-five each other triumphantly. Henry smiled.

“Care for a round of Smash, Boss?” he heard Ellie ask him. He turned to see her holding out a controller for him to take and one for herself. Right and Reg were already working to set up the game of Super Smash Brothers on the system. He took it, holding it under his arm so he could sign.

“You are so going down,” he challenged.

“Oh, you’re on!”

Several victories later, Henry was starting to feel a little tired. If he recalled correctly, he still had to catch up with the paperwork he missed while captured. He trusted Ellie had managed while he was gone, but that was a two-person job. With roughly 1000 members, there are a lot of things to keep tabs on. He also had a meeting in about 9 hours and he kind of wanted to sleep before that. He communicated as such to his friends.

“Scared you’ll break your winnin’ streak?” Right teased.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Henry signed. He passed his controller to Ellie before standing up and stretching a little.

“I can help you if you need Henry,” Reginald offered. “That paperwork can be tough if it wants to be.”

Henry shook his head, declining politely. He thanked the ex-leader for the offer before saying his final goodnights and bowing out.

As he walked confidently through the halls, the bottom of his trench coat lingered behind him like a cape, giving him a powerful presence. This may or may not have been the entire reason Henry decided to wear a trench coat with his Toppat outfit. What? He looked cool!

His mind wandered a little as he walked on autopilot towards his quarters. It wandered to the past couple days. The chaos he’d caused in breaking out of confinement.

The time he spent with Charles.

This Charles barely even knew him! His first reaction was to shoot him, which is very fair, Henry had to admit, but he’d still ended up helping him willingly. Why was that?

And not only that, but he even comforted him after the nightmare! He didn’t need to do that. He didn’t even need to wake him. Henry would’ve just suffered alone, much like he usually did with those nightmares. And yet, he listened. He let him talk about it. He didn’t mention his tear-stained cheeks or shaky hands. He just listened.

Henry walked into his quarters, turning on the light and shutting the door behind him. He deposited the dice he stole from the motel into a drawer, noticing he was starting to build quite the collection. He collapsed onto his bed, covering his eyes with his arm as he blushed lightly.

This is why he loved Charles. He was so selfless all the time. He always put the needs of others before himself. He was funny, optimistic, a little bit oblivious, a little bit naive. But he never stopped trying. He never gave up. Henry smiled a genuine, toothy smile at his thoughts.

And then he thought about the kiss he gave the pilot on his way out of the helicopter. His blush became much, much redder all of a sudden.

Granted, it was a kiss on the cheek, but considering he hadn’t even confessed to Charles here yet, even a kiss on the cheek meant a lot. His skin was somehow both soft and rough, a product of his military training, Henry assumed. He had felt it as his cheeks warmed at his touch. Seen the look in his eyes. Had he liked it?

Henry brushed his lips with the tips of his fingers, recalling how they’d felt against Charles’ skin.

What did the pilot think about the kiss?

\---

The short answer to that question simply: Charles’ brain was screaming.

He currently lay on his bed in his small, crappy, military-issued apartment, mind scattered all over the place thinking about the Toppat Chief. His face had turned red enough to rival the shade of his headphones. He was rubbing his eyes as he tried desperately to think about something, anything, else.

What was that for? Did that actually happen? Was it just the heat of the moment? But most importantly; why?

God, Charles was a mess. He hadn’t even let the General know he was back yet! He’d have to do that tomorrow now! After trying to pull himself together.

That morning, Charles had woken up before Henry did. He noticed Henry had fallen asleep on his chest. Henry was taller than him. Surely that couldn’t have been an accident, right? But then again, he had just had a nightmare reliving the memory of his last boyfriend’s death. He would have felt responsible for that. It certainly sounded like it from what he had told him. Maybe he just did that for comfort’s sake?

But then he also kissed him! Why did he do that? Charles brought his hand up to his face where Henry had kissed him, brushing the skin with the tips of his fingers.

He recalled how he cupped his cheek. How he pulled him closer. The feeling of his lips against his skin. The way his voice gave him chills. The way his hand lingered on his face as he fell backwards out of the helicopter.

The ace pilot brought both his hands to his face, covering it from the world, and thrashing over onto his side. He let out a groan of frustration.

“Henry Stickmin, I swear, you are going to be the death of me!” he muttered angrily under his breath.


	6. Time Spent Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the saying goes: "distance makes the heart grow fonder", which is definitely true for flyboy here. Prepare for more gay panic is all I'm gonna say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What am I doing here? I have an exam tomorrow. I should be studying. Why am I like this?

It had been nearly six months since the Toppat Leader escaped the base. He hadn’t been seen on Earth since.

There were small raids. Jewellery store robberies, bank heists, prison breaks, those sorts of things. Every time, the Toppats would get in, grab what they were after, and be on their way out before Charles’ squad even got there.

He told the General about Henry’s escape and that he’d held him hostage the morning after he got back. He conveniently left out the parts about sharing a bed and the kiss before he left the planet. Needless to say, Galeforce was not happy.

“That absolute bastard!” he had shouted after hearing about it. “I swear, if that son of a bitch even touched a hair on your head, I am going to break every bone in his body!”

It wasn’t a secret that Charles and the General shared a relationship akin to a father and son, Galeforce had strongly considered officially adopting him for a while! But this was especially overprotective, even for him. Charles had assured him that he was fine. No cuts, no bruises, no open wounds. Well, maybe except the hole Henry left after he stole his heart. But who’s counting?

Charles had been put in charge of a special squad of troops reserved especially for missions regarding the Toppat Clan. They have had surprisingly very little to work on since they were assigned the role. The team, in essence, was great. Men and women were selected especially for the squad, each being an expert in their particular field.

The squad was made up of six people total: John Pilksin, bounty hunter and expert in infiltration and espionage. Gordon Banks, technicians expert and possibly one of the greatest hackers available to them. Amelia Esteban, demolitions expert and special covert operative. Victoria Grit, an army Captain with a plethora of successful missions under her belt and a good eye for quick solutions. Rupert Price, a skilled marksman with impeccable reflexes and apparently a history with the main man they were after. And finally, Charles Calvin, the youngest and yet the most experienced ace pilot and the leader of the squad.

Victoria had agreed to step down and let the pilot lead, despite her gut telling her not to. Charles had heard of her success and asked her to take the reins when they were in the field, seeing as he didn’t really know much about commanding troops in the middle of action like that. She seemed happy about that at least.

Currently, the six of them were stood in the General’s office, explaining how they had completely lost to a small band of Toppats during their latest mission. They were breaking their members out of a maximum-security prison.

“... they ended up escaping with the rescued prisoners,” Charles finished. Galeforce sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Just when we were starting to get more of them. Okay, if there’s nothing else you have for me, you are all dismi-”

“The Righ’ Hand Lady was with them.” The voice that interrupted the General belonged to Rupert. Several heads turned quickly in his direction. Victoria was not pleased. Charles was simply just surprised.

“Don’t interrupt the General, soldier,” Victoria snapped quietly.

“It’s okay, Victoria,” Galeforce assured. He gestured for Rupert to continue.

“Surely if the Righ’ Hand Lady was there, i’ was far more importan’ than a simple prison break!” he explained like it was obvious. Charles honestly hadn’t thought of that. Galeforce nodded, thinking for a moment.

“Charlie,” he said, the pilot nodding to indicate he was listening. “Get in touch with the prison. See if you can find out who exactly they took and if they took anything else.” He nodded again.

“Sorry, Sir,” Gordon said, drawing the attention to him. “If you don’t mind, I’ve been able to intercept some transmissions sent from the Toppat Orbital Station to the Ground Base at the coordinates Charles gave us.” This sparked everyone’s attention.

“They’ve been planning a heist,” he continued. “A really big one. They don’t mention the names of anything, and it’s all encrypted, but I’ve managed to figure out that it is going to take place in the UK, and it has something to do with a museum, I think.” His inflection on his last point turned up, making it sound more like a question. “Either way, what they’ve got their eyes on is expensive and has some major historical value.”

“Alright,” Galeforce sighed. “See if you can find out what it is exactly that they’re trying to steal.” Gordon nodded. “Is that everything then?” When there was no reply, he said, “Thank you. You’re dismissed.”

The squad filed out of the room, breathing a collective sigh of frustration, relief, and exhaustion. Charles was the first to speak.

“Alright, team,” he said. “We’re all a little tired and stressed. The best thing we can do for the moment is clean up and have a rest. We can regroup tomorrow morning at Hangar 6 to figure out what we’re doing.”

The other five nodded and started towards the apartment buildings. The pilot lingered back for a little bit, watching his team trudge off through the base, feet dragging across the ground behind them. They were all obviously in pain, both from the injuries they had gained in the fight, and from the headaches they had from simply being awake for so many hours on end.

Charles ran a hand through his hair before sighing and turning on his heel and heading towards the hangar. Figuring he would get talking to the prison authorities out of the way before he settled down for the night, he prepared to make the flight there once again. After notifying the ground crew, he took off for the relatively short flight.

He landed on the helipad on the roof of the prison’s tallest building, much to the surprise of the pair of guards who were stationed up there. Moving his headset to his shoulders, we stepped out of the vehicle and walked up to them confidently.

“Sir, I didn’t think we were expecting anyone,” a guard with blond hair stated authoritatively. “Please state your name and business.”

Charles showed him his identification. “I am Captain Charles Calvin,” the pilot said, trying his absolute hardest to remain formal. “I was here earlier when the Toppats broke out a few of their members. I’ve been asked to speak with the warden of this facility.” The guard blinked.

“Uh, of course!” he said after a short pause. “Right this way sir.” His coworker gave him a look as he led Charles through the door into the rest of the building.

They walked for a while until they reached the warden’s office.

“Ma’am?” the guard said as he knocked on the already opened door. “Sorry to bother you, ma’am, but this guy from the government is here. He said he’s here to talk to you about the Toppats?”

The woman at the desk sighed, taking off her glasses and putting them down on its surface. “Yes, yes. Bring him in.” The guard nodded and gestured for Charles to enter the room. He obliged, walking up to the desk.

“You’re the warden here, correct?” he asked.

“Yes. My name is Kylie Matthews. May I ask yours?”

“Captain Charles Calvin.” Jesus that title sounded weird. He had only earned it recently, but he never really imagined himself as anything other than a pilot. The whole thing was just a little overwhelming.

“Well, Captain, what is it you need?” The warden gestured for him to take a seat as she fiddled with the papers in front of her.

Charles sat on one of the wooden chairs in front of the desk and continued speaking. “I’ve been asked to speak to you about the prisoners the Toppats broke out earlier today,” he explained. “Who they are, what they did to end up here, if they took anyone or anything else with them.”

“That I can help you with.” She pushed forward a small stack of files. The pilot began to flip through them, not really reading anything, but trying to make it look like he knew what he was doing. “Those are the files of the prisoners who were missing when we did a headcount. They took off with everything that belonged to them. Nothing else as far as I’m aware.

“They’re all Toppats except one.” She pointed out a particular file with a manicured nail. “Ruth O’Kennedy. They went out of their way to grab her too, making it a lot more difficult for themselves in the process. What I’m trying to figure out is why.”

Charles looked over her file, actually paying attention this time. Ruth was a 23-year-old from Waterford, Ireland. A skilled jewel thief who had been caught attempting to steal from the Tower of London. Wait, why was she here if she was arrested in London? He must’ve asked that question aloud because Warden Matthews answered.

“To split up her party,” she stated simply, leaning forward in her chair. “She wasn’t working alone. She was with a group of other incredibly skilled thieves. British Secret Service decided it would be a good idea to transfer them all to different prisons around the world to prevent their escape.”

“They tried to steal the Crown Jewels, didn’t they?” Charles asked.

“Yep!” She laughed a little. “I’m honestly surprised at how far they got! They managed to get into the jewel house before they tripped any alarms. I think that’s the closest anyone has ever gotten!”

“Well then of course they’d want to recruit her!” Charles said. “If she and her team got so close, why wouldn’t you want that talent in a criminal clan?”

“I suppose you’re right there.” The two shared a bit of a laugh. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No thank you,” he declined. “That’s all I needed. I would appreciate if I could have a copy of these files though. This one, in particular, is interesting.” He held up the file belonging to Ruth. The warden nodded.

“Where am I sending those to?” she asked. If he recalled correctly, the base’s exact location wasn’t really supposed to be public information.

“I’ll send someone to pick them up about this time tomorrow,” he said, checking his watch. “Or I’ll just come. I’m not really sure.”

“Alright. I’ll get these copied by then.”

“Thank you for your time Ms Matthews.” He stood up, placing the file back on her desk.

“Not a problem, Captain.”

He still wasn’t sure he liked that.

Charles turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door on his way out. Following the halls to the best of his memory, he surprised himself to find he made it out into the roof again. He politely said goodbye to the two guards and started up his helicopter for the journey back, his mind going over the information he just learned.

So Henry was…

Henry. He’d thought about him every day for the past six months. Thought about what it was like to fly with someone at his side. About the night they’d spent together and how Henry insisted on paying in his own special way. About how it was his job to capture him at almost any cost. About how he could’ve done that so easily if he’d just stopped wanting to help everyone. About the kiss he gave him and the feeling he left after falling out of the helicopter and taking off with his heart.

He wondered what he was up to. What he was planning. If he was thinking of him. He also wondered: what if he hadn’t kissed him on the cheek? What would the thief’s lips have felt like on his own?

Nope! Charles! You’re losing it! Get your head back in the game before you start losing altitude like you’re losing your mind!

So Henry, the man he was definitely not falling for, was looking to recruit another skilled jewel thief, and possibly the rest of her team. They had all been caught attempting to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. He didn’t know how many there were or why the Chief had decided now would be the best time to recruit them.

It was an odd coincidence, Charles thought, that he was recruiting people who had successfully broken into the Tower of London around the same time they were planning to steal things of historical value from the United Kingdom. Wait… No.

Were the Toppats planning to steal the Crown Jewels?

\---

“I can’t thank you enough for getting me outta there,” the girl, Ruth, her name was, said again. Her accent was thick, but her words were still understandable.

“Not a problem,” Ellie replied, a genuine smile on her face. “Gotta help a fellow redhead out!” Ruth laughed at that. Her hair was much longer than the Toppat’s. Much darker too. It was a lot more likely to be naturally that hue than Ellie’s brighter, obviously dyed hair. She was still a redhead underneath, but she preferred the vibrancy.

They were sitting in a transportation pod. A little ship that was designed for the sole purpose of getting to and from any given location with more people quickly. Beaming up would be quicker, but it was hard to do that with so many people. There were about six of their members who were just broken out, seven if you include Ruth. Ellie had a team of five including herself, so that meant twelve people would all be trying to cram themselves into the same beam. That would not be a clean teleport. They were sure to leave someone’s legs behind. Henry was big on teleports being as safe as possible. Ellie wondered why that was.

Ruth hugged her rather long legs closer to her body, tapping her fingers quickly in no particular pattern as she looked around the pod at the Toppats. Some of them were wounded, not terribly, just shot once or twice in the legs or arms. Those that were in the extraction team took most of the hits.

It took them about ten minutes to get up and out of the atmosphere and back to the orbital station. Toppats were already waiting in the docking bay for them to arrive. Some ran to greet the prisoners they had broken out. Others spoke to those in the extraction team. Medics were already waiting to treat any injuries sustained by the Toppats in the line of fire. Henry stood arms crossed with a small smirk waiting for his Right Hand to return.

“Woah,” came a small whisper from the Irish woman to her left. Ellie laughed a little.

“Pretty cool isn’t it?” she asked, only receiving a small nod as a reply as Ruth stared slack-jawed at the station’s interior. “Come with me. The Chief has been waiting to see you.”

“Wait, what?”

Ellie had already taken her by the arm and was leading her to where Henry stood. The jewel thief was panicking just a little. She was just rescued by a criminal organisation for no apparent reason, and now suddenly their leader wanted to speak to her? What?

The woman, she said her name was Ellie, brought her to a tall man with a black top hat that had a golden dollar sign and chain wrapped around the base. He had a welcoming and familiar glint in his eyes, something that put Ruth at ease, if only a bit. What she found most interesting about him were his incredibly pale skin and white hair. That was something you didn’t see every day. He must burn easily.

He said something to Ellie in sign language, the smile on his face growing. She laughed sarcastically before saying “You’re hilarious” in an unamused tone.

“Ruth, this is Henry Stickmin,” she said to her. “He’s the leader of the Toppat Clan. Henry, this is Ruth O’Kennedy.”

Stickmin. She swore she’d heard that name before. Something about being uncatchable? She’d heard talk of him during her time in prison. Apparently, a lot of criminals were jealous at how much he had gotten away with.

“A pleasure to meet you in person, Ruth,” Henry said aloud, holding out his hand. For someone who was supposed to be selectively mute, his voice was rather smooth. She just shook his hand silently. “I heard about the little stunt you pulled at the Tower of London.” Oh, now that makes sense. “You must be incredibly brave to even attempt that heist.”

“Yeah, or incredibly stupid,” she replied. “I don’t know what made us think we could do it.”

Henry frowned for a moment. He sympathised with her, he really did. His first major heist had been way too ambitious for his own skill level. He got in, but completely misjudged everything and ended up getting himself caught and thrown in prison.

“Walk with me,” he said politely. She obliged, Ellie tailing not too far behind them. “Do you understand ASL?”

“No, sorry,” Ruth apologised sheepishly.

“Not a problem then. Ellie can translate for you.” She nodded, having already done this many times before. He switched to signing, making sure Ellie was paying attention. “I wanted to talk to you about a few things. Of course, I know you didn’t do this on your own. The Tower is too well guarded for that to be possible. You were the first member of your group we were able to find.”

Ruth nodded. “Okay, so, what was it you wanted to talk about?”

They stopped at a door, Henry opening it and motioning for the other two to go in before stepping in after them. The room was used for talking to potential recruits. There was a table with a pair of cushioned chairs on either side. Henry and Ellie sat on one side of the table, Ruth on the other. Henry continued to sign.

“I wanted to talk to you about the heist,” he said, Ellie translating. “How you got in so far before setting anything off.”

“You aren’t planning to steal t’e Crown Jewels, are you?” the younger thief asked, worry and surprise written all over her face.

“We are. And we plan to do it right. You’re the closest anyone has ever gotten to stealing them, so we figured we’d ask you for a little help.”

Ruth let out a breath, sinking backwards into her chair for a moment. Her pale blue eyes flicked downwards as she processed something in her mind. After a moment, she made eye contact with the Toppat Leader. Something new was in her eyes, something that could only be described as determination.

“A lot of planning went into that heist,” she said. “Almost a year of it. We didn’t just break in, we hacked their entire security system. We had people in t’e guards’ uniforms who would let us in and out without being ‘seen’. Every move we took was carefully planned at least a week beforehand.”

“Then how did you get caught?”

“One slip up. One, and it was over. We weren’t prepared for what would happen if we made a mistake. We just hoped that it wouldn’t come to that.”

“You may not have been prepared, Ruth. But we are,” Henry assured. “We have the ability to get into space. They can’t follow us as long as we get in the upper layers of the atmosphere.”

The auburnette nodded slowly. “I’d need t’e rest of my team. We don’t have one single brain behind the operation.”

“We were already planning on finding your whole team. Any group of people who can get into such a heavily guarded place like that must work together exceptionally well. I was wondering if you would all be interested in joining the Clan.”

Henry smiled welcomingly at the thief across from him, who just sat there blinking a little in surprise. She tried to speak but had to start her sentence again multiple times for it to come out properly.

“Well I’d have to talk to t’e rest of my team first,” she said finally.

“Understandable. We aren’t expecting a decision right away,” he signed. “My Right Hand Lady here will take you to see Burt in Communications. You’ll just need to give him the full names of your friends and he’ll be able to find where they’re being held. We’ll send out teams to extract them.”

“Okay, uh. Thank you, Sir.”

“Please, just call me Henry.”

“Okay, sorry. Thank you, Henry.”

“Alright,” Ellie said for herself, standing up. “Follow me.”

The two redheads exited the room, leaving Henry sitting at the table. He took a breath and rubbed his temples, taking a minute just for himself.

The nightmares had been getting worse. He didn’t understand why, they just were. It was no longer just Charles’ death either. Now he found himself reliving memories of Reginald’s betrayal when escaping the Wall, the civil war with Ellie after he abandoned her, his own death on the side of a mountain in the Dogobogo Jungle.

It was slowly tearing at his sanity.

He should probably tell someone about it, right? At least Ellie. She would understand, and he didn’t have to tell her about the whole ‘it all actually happened’ thing. Or he could do what he did with Charles and just pretend they were different people.

Charles. God he hadn’t seen the pilot in six months! What was he up to? Was he thinking about him? Was he in charge of taking him down? That would be one hell of a coincidence. Imagine; Henry’s dead boyfriend in one timeline, trying to kill him in another. Or, maybe he just wanted him arrested. It’s more dramatic if he wants him dead.

Still, what did he think of this kiss? Did he like it? Oh, who was he kidding? Charles probably thought he was a coward for falling out of the helicopter after he did it! What if he had kissed him on the lips instead?

He immediately found himself blushing at the mental image. God, he missed him! He missed him and the feel of his lips against his. And the hours spent in the air with just each other. And how he had to stand on his tiptoes to kiss him. And how he ran his hand through his hair during the late hours of the night. And the mornings of chaos before he had taken his medication. And the effort he put into hiding him from the world after his faked death. And just being with him.

Now a red-faced, love-struck mess, Henry stood from where he was sitting, adjusted his hat, and left the room, closing the door behind him. He couldn’t let himself get distracted now. After all, he had a heist to finish planning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been brainstorming this story while staring into the abyss in the shower and oh boy, I have fucking plans people. Plans! I never have plans! This is so exciting!


	7. The Heist Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking the Crown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's graduating in two days! Me!!
> 
> Figured I'd get this chapter out before I have all the ceremony stuff to do. So, uh, enjoy!

“Alright, everyone! Listen up!”

The Toppats all looked up from their conversations at their Second in Command. She stood in the centre of the transportation pod, Henry at her side. There were about twenty of them in total, all fidgeting with their hats or twirling their thumbs or tapping their feet. All just doing something for the sake of doing something. It was clear as day that everyone was nervous.

Henry stepped forward a bit, surveying his clan. He then cleared his throat and addressed them aloud. “This heist will be the toughest one we have ever faced, and the toughest we ever will face,” he said, taking a couple people off guard at the use of his voice. “There are several hoops we’ve had to jump through in the past year to even give us a chance, and there will be plenty more to come up. It will not be easy.

“But I don’t want that to discourage you. You have all been specially selected for this heist, and I have faith in each and every one of you. We will be keeping in touch via your earpieces the entire time and will notify you if plans need to change. You all know the drill by now; go out there and make me proud!”

Applause and cheering sounded from the small crowd of criminals. Henry wasn’t sure if they fully believed in themselves, but they were certainly appreciative of the encouragement. He and Ellie sat back down around the edges next to Reginald and Right Hand Man. The leader adjusted his top hat with a sigh.

“Oi, don’t sweat it, kid,” Right said with a light tap on his arm. “You’re the infamous ‘Enry Stickmin. If anyone can pull off this one, it’s you.”

“Thanks, Right,” he signed his reply. “I guess I’m just really nervous about the whole thing. What if they’re expecting us?”

What if Charles was expecting him? He knew Charles. He was smarter than a lot of people made him out to be. If the General had set him on his trail at all, which he probably did, there was a very high chance that he was onto him.

“There’s no way!” Ellie said confidently. “You and Reg came up with such a brilliant plan! They’ve got no idea what we’re really up to!”

The plan was as follows: the Toppats were pretending to use the abandoned base in hopes the government was attempting to intercept their messages. They left encrypted clues to a major historical heist in England but didn’t say exactly what it was. Their clues were supposed to lead to the theft of the Greenwich Sapphire from the Oxford Museum of Natural History. This was the fourth and final gem in the collection the Toppats currently owned, so it would make sense for them to go out of their way to steal it. Once on Earth, the Toppats would send a team to the museum to ‘steal’ the sapphire.

The government would, hopefully, be too distracted with securing the sapphire that they wouldn’t notice the far bigger threat to the Crown Jewels until it was too late. Henry didn’t expect them to make a clean getaway. that would be too easy. It was why he brought so many people. Once the government realised what they were actually doing, the Toppats at the Museum of Natural History would actually steal the sapphire. It was a win for the clan whether they made it out with the Crown Jewels or not.

“That was an excellent idea if I do say so myself,” Reginald piped up, running a gloved finger through his moustache. He was nervous, Henry could tell that through the slight shakiness in his voice. Of course, he was nervous! Anyone would be! They were about to attempt the mother of all heists!

They landed as stealthily as possible an equal distance away from both locations. The criminals all started unloading themselves. They had five cars already parked hidden on location, two were to go to Oxford, and the other three to London.

Henry glanced at his watch. It was almost 11:00 pm in Coordinated Universal Time, and lucky for Henry, this time there was no math involved in figuring out what time it was where they were. The drive there would be about 40 minutes. If they left now, it would give them roughly 20 minutes to get everything and everyone into position before Big Ben chimed at midnight. He communicated as such to Ellie, who spoke to the rest of the thieves.

They piled into the cars. Bobbi and Sven were arguing in harsh whispers over who was driving their car, only for them both to be beaten to it by their other passenger. The girl noticed, and yelled a quick, enthusiastic “Shotgun!” before half skipping, half running over to the front seat. The Swede groaned and slunk into the back instead.

Ruth was talking quietly to her team. None of them wore top hats yet. Henry hoped he’d be able to recruit them after the heist, but did promise them some of the spoils should they be successful and they didn’t want to join.

There were five of them in total. There was, of course, Ruth, the anxious and yet somehow most bombastic of the group. A dark-skinned man with glasses whose name was Noah Hedgely-White, the hacker Ruth had mentioned after her premature release. A short blond whose name currently escaped him, but he was the most sarcastic person Henry had ever met. A rather muscular woman whose name was simply Tex. She had refused to give the clan her full name, which no one really minded. It actually helped her bond a bit with Right Hand Man. And finally, a young, Spanish girl who would’ve just graduated high school if it weren’t for being locked in detention centres for most of her adolescence. Her name was Noelia Cantero.

Tex shot Henry an intimidating look upon finding him looking at them. He turned back to Ellie, who was currently trying to convince Reginald to let her drive.

“You are not driving this car, Ellie Rose!” Reginald said harshly, trying desperately not to raise his voice.

“And why not?” the girl responded in the same tone.

“Because whenever you drive, we almost crash into something!”

“We’ll be fine!” She slipped into the driver’s seat despite the protests of the brunette.

The drive to the Tower was, as Reginald predicted, was not without several close calls with Ellie’s reckless driving. Tex got out of her car looking like she had seen a ghost and questioning how she was supposed to follow someone who clearly shouldn’t be behind the wheel of any vehicle. Ellie countered with a few sarcastic remarks and a comment about the blonde’s inability to keep up. The rest of the team seemed to find that quite funny.

Noah looked up from his laptop, which he was carrying on one arm. “Okay, I’ve discovered a sligh’ problem,” he said. “They’ve enhanced their systems to be’er protect the securi’y. I can still ge’ in, it’ll jus’ take a li’le longer than expec’ed.”

Henry nodded and took the time to look around. They had parked their cars in a blind spot of vegetation, a few trees and bushes plus about 100 meters of distance were the only things hiding them from the guards’ vision.

He watched them as they made their rounds. Two guards passed each other, giving a little nod as they did. They were slacking. Good. The bottom of the wall was left unguarded for a solid 23 seconds before another guard rounded the corner. That was enough time to get a few of them up, but not all of them. Then there was the problem of the guard at the top of the wall. He would pass by every 10 seconds, but his patrol was alternated with the ground patrol, and he seemed a lot more dedicated to his job. Now that was a problem.

Still, there was a solution to every problem. They would just have to take out the guards at the bottom, get someone up there to take out the guard at the top, and they would have a 68-second window to get everyone in before someone came back around. They would need to hide the other guards. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue. He explained the plan to Ellie, Reginald, and Right Hand Man, who quietly relayed it to everyone else. Noah looked up with a triumphant face at around the same time.

“I’m in,” he said with a grin. “Jus’ say the word, Mr Chief and they won’ know whot hit ‘em!”

Henry nodded and opened his bag, searching for the equipment he packed. He didn’t find it. Instead, the duffel bag held four things he had no idea he even owned! A pair of bright red parkour shoes, a gun with a harpoon-like grapple instead of bullets, a bottle of glowing purple liquid, and a device with four green- oh that was a teleporter. Well, fuck! Guess we’re doing this again!

Figuring he’d get it out of the way, he picked up the teleporter, an unamused expression on his face. He looked up at the wall of the Tower, then back at the device, breathing a long, heavy sigh.

“What is that?” Ellie muttered as he pressed the same three buttons he always did.

“Watch me screw this up,” was all he signed before hitting the big red button in the middle. He blinked out of existence, or at least that’s what it looked like to everyone else.

The Toppat Leader appeared again in a room with walls a familiar shade of green. People were standing around him, all staring in shock-horror at his sudden entrance. Turning, he noted the recognisable face of none other than General Hubert Galeforce. Shit.

“Get him!” the General commanded, everyone scrambling to get their hands on weapons and point them at him. One girl with black hair had even started booking it towards him. That was when time froze.

[FAIL]  
You looking for Charles? I’m afraid you just missed him!

Still smug as ever. He didn’t think that would work. He slipped on the parkour shoes instead, giving a nod to Noah as he put his heeled boots in his bag. It felt odd standing flat after wearing heels for so long.

“You’re good to go,” the hacker remarked.

Henry made a run for it, holding his hat with one hand so it wouldn’t fly off. He vaulted over a short fence and slid under another. Rolling out of the slide he continued to run. The guards spotted him. Why did he go when there were guards there? They readied their weapons to fire at him, but he quickly kicked one in the knees. He fell to the ground, giving Henry a platform to help him boost up the wall. He leapt off the guard and gripped onto the wall with his hands and shoes. Running up the wall for a split second, he reached up with his arm to grab onto the ledge and-

Instantly, he fell to the ground with a thud. A sharp noise of pain found its way out of his throat.

[FAIL]  
Too high.

Nodding to Noah, he took out the grapple gun. He gestured to Reginald and Right and then to the guards at the bottom of the wall before signing for them to incapacitate them. They did the minute security shut off.

Henry used the grapple gun, hooking it to the top of the wall and braced himself as the rope retracted, taking him with it. Swinging one leg over the wall, followed by the other, he situated himself to let a rope down for everyone else.

The sound of a cocking gun rang next to his ear. The Toppat Leader turned to look down the barrel of a guards’ gun.

[FAIL]  
Did you forget about the other guard?

With a huff, he took the glass bottle out of his bag and admired the shimmering effect of the liquid for a moment before uncorking it. The albino gave Noah a nod as he built himself up in his head to drink whatever concoction this was. After receiving a thumbs up and the same remark from the hacker, Henry took a breath and downed the purple liquid.

It left an odd feeling in his mouth and throat as he drank it, almost like popping candy, but without the noise. There wasn’t much in the realm of taste, if anything it tasted a little spicy. A cool shiver ran down his spine not long after he had emptied the container. He almost yelped in surprise to look down at the bottle to find it floating in mid-air with his hand nowhere in sight.

Taking a second to focus, he noted the strange, swirling, blue particles that were hovering around the air where his arm should be. With his hand out of the way, he could read the label on the bottle. In blocky lettering, it read:

“Potion of Invisibility  
Duration: 3:00”

Well, that might have been good to know before he drank it. No matter. He set it down on the ground in front of Ellie, smiling a little at the confused stares of the other thieves, and made his way quietly over to the Tower’s wall.

The guards passed by each other again, the same ones judging by the nod they gave each other. Henry elbowed one in the back of the head, hoping to knock him out. He only made a noise of pain and prompted the other guard to turn around. After the new guard was clocked square in the face, he fell to the ground, the impact against the concrete being enough to knock him out cold. The first guard had turned by now, staring horrified confusion at his unconscious colleague. It took a quick hook to the temple before he was out as well.

Henry sighed and dusted off his hands before stepping closer to the wall. A side effect of the Tower of London being so old was that there were little divots and uneven sections in the brick where the material had eroded away. This was very useful for him, and Ruth’s team in the past, who needed to somehow scale the wall.

Rock climbing. That’s all it is. Plus every other option failed, and if this was what his body urged him to do, surely it would work, right?

Eating up a lot of his time, and not without difficulty, Henry managed to successfully scale the outer wall of the Tower. Clinging to the top with one arm, he waited for the guard to pass before grabbing him by the sleeve of his coat and dragging him off the edge. He let out a brief cry before hitting the ground below. Ooh, he was probably dead, huh? Whoops…

He could feel the confused, wandering eys of his allies as he pulled a length of rope out of his bag. The rope appeared to float in midair as he tossed it over the side of the wall for the other thieves to climb up. He blinked into view not long after it hit the ground.

Beckoning them over, Henry fixed the rope to the wall and began to look around. Where he was standing was completely empty. It appeared as though the guard patrolling up here was the only one on this particular section of the outer wall. Seemed a little stupid since this was protecting the pride and joy of London, and England as a whole, but Henry wasn’t complaining.

Right Hand Man was the first up, of course, he flew instead of using the rope, but that was part of the plan to make sure no one would fall if the rope slipped. Henry got his attention and began to sign.

“Only guard up here,” he explained. “Security seems a little too relaxed for somewhere protecting the Jewels of London.”

Right exhaled sharply in a mixture between a laugh and a scoff. He moved his cybernetics as quietly as possible so he could sign with his hands while keeping the rope stable with his foot. “Makes it easier for us! But we’ll have to keep a lookout as we get closer to the Jewel House.”

“Agreed.” Henry gripped onto the rope with one hand and helped people with the other as they came up.

Within the 68 second window, everyone was up, the rope was safely back inside his bag, and the next phase of the plan had begun. The band of 13 or so thieves currently lay hidden in small alleyways across the Tower’s grounds, all listening intently to their earpieces for the next signal.

No one stayed in the same position for long. In a minute, almost half of them had moved silently to other hidden crevices of the area, avoiding guards, ravens, and any tripwires Noah hadn’t shut off yet. It was exactly the moment when Big Ben struck midnight when they received word from the others in Oxford.

“We’re in!” came Bobbi’s excited tone. “The government’s here! We’re keeping them busy! It’s go time, people!”

A collective breath was taken as they prepared. Henry motioned for the criminals to start moving in towards the Jewel House. Soon, all of them were stood crouching in the darkness just outside the building.

The biggest heist of their lives had officially begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooooh!~ Cliff hanger!~  
> I'm so original aren't I?


	8. We Meet Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More thievery, more shenanigans, more chaos. What more could you want?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll just let the chapter speak for itself.

To say Charles was surprised to find Toppats at the Oxford Museum of Natural History would be a bit of an understatement. Though, he supposed, it would make sense. Use the chaos caused by a fake heist to cover up the real motives. He knew almost instantly that’s what they were doing when he noticed that a particular albino was missing from the band of thieves they were trying to stop.

He left the police radio running. At the first sign of Toppats in London, he’d call back his team and they’d be off, ready to take them down. It honestly made the pilot feel a little like an unsung superhero. Always ready to mask up and jump into the action, whether the police appreciated the help or not.

He heard the shouts of his team members, mainly Victoria, over his headset as he flew. His eyes remained glued to what he could see below him as much as possible, watching as the Toppats closed in on the museum’s entrance from below. They made quick ground against the security who were trying to hold the doors at the front. The government was attempting to keep up with them from behind.

Loud, beeping sensors told Charles something was targeting him. Shutting them off so they didn’t distract him, he picked up speed to make it harder to aim and began looking for who had a lock on him.

“Uh, Victoria?” he said into his microphone. “I think I’m being targeted by someone, maybe on the roof?” Gazing at the roof gave him a quick answer. The bright orange top hat made the gunner hard to miss. “Oh! Yeah, I am. North-east corner, orange hat. Could you please do something about that?”

“Roger that,” came her reply. “Price?”

He assumed she pointed them out because a gunshot was heard and the gunner lost their grip on their weapon not long after. Charles started to move closer to the building, hoping to catch a better look at the thieves on the roof.

Three of them, including the one in the orange hat, who was now clutching their side and limping towards the others. There were four or five out on the ground. It was a small team, a lot closer to the size of those sent for small missions, not a heist that’s kept their leader on base for a year. One Toppat in a deep green shirt held onto their hat and looked up at him. The pilot was too far away to read the expression on their face before they hid their face with the black top hat and put a hand to their ear. They were communicating with someone.

Charles looked to the Toppats on the ground. Not one responded to the green-clad Toppat’s call. This only enforced the idea that there was another, more important team of operatives at a separate location. Perhaps at the Tower of London?

They were probably calling to say their distraction had been successful. That most of the police force, and now the government, were focused on them and they were free to start the real heist. Henry was almost definitely on the other side of that call. He almost definitely knew Charles was after him. He was just smart like that.

The ace pilot wasn’t sure how he knew that. Whether it was just a hunch, or something he’d read in a file, or something he figured out. Surely he hadn’t ‘known’ Henry that long to have just figured it out, right?

The clanging sound of bullets against metal shook him from his head. He was being shot at. Great!

Moving a stray brown hair from his face, he accelerated again. Sirens wailed below him as more British police officers arrived. Looking at the ground below told him the news before he heard it over his headset.

“Shit! They got in!” Victoria cursed.

\---

Getting into the jewel house would be easy, or at least Ruth said it would be. There was a window on the second floor that didn’t lock properly. They just had to get up there using… some bubble solution or an up special. What kind of options were those?

Well, the bubble solution was just stupid so surely it would work, right? Henry took it out of his bag and unscrewed the cap. He blew a few bubbles, watching them rise with a small smile on his face. Then he blinked and shared a look with his fellow Toppats. Nothing happened.

[FAIL]  
Well, that was pleasant.

Now he just felt like a fool. Rewinding back to his decision, he instead chose to use an up special. He bent down momentarily before leaping up into the air. One leg was positioned up as if he was kicking an invisible opponent, channelling the momentum upwards as he jumped.

He spun his leg around and reached out for the window ledge. He caught it with the tips of his fingers, hanging there for a second, breathing a sigh.

The Toppat Leader hoisted himself up, perching on the small sliver of concrete as he retrieved his lockpick from the hidden pocket in his boot. It was easier to pick than he anticipated. He only really had to jiggle the metal around a bit for the window to be open. If they really didn’t want people stealing the Crown Jewels, perhaps they should keep a much tighter security and actually fix their window locks.

The window swung inward, another poor design choice if they wanted to keep the jewels safe, allowing Henry to slip in and help the others up from a more stable position.

Once everyone was inside, Noah did a quick sweep for any indoor security measures. He disabled the laser alarms with relative ease and looped the security footage at the drop of a top hat. The hacker was incredibly skilled at what he did, Henry had to give him that.

Ellie moved forward, taking the lead as they maneuvered themselves through the jewel house. She motioned for the thieves to split off, warning them to be careful of any sensors.

Ruth looked a little on edge, most of her team did actually, but the excitement of being able to complete the heist that got them all locked up was enough for them to push their nerves aside it seemed. The Toppats and their allies began filling their bags with the jewels, crowns, and sceptres of England’s past Kings and Queens.

There were over 100 individual items available to them. All they had to do was crack open their cases and they were theirs for the taking.

Henry approached one glass box, bringing himself to a halt as he felt pulled to make a decision. Looking in his bag, he noticed two items that weren’t there before. A hammer, and a laser cutter. This was taking him back to stealing the Tunisian Diamond. God, that was years ago. Back before everything became so complicated. The hammer had worked then, and he didn’t fancy being cut in half again, so he chose to use the hammer.

He took it out and tapped the glass lightly a few times. When that didn’t work, he tapped harder. The glass still didn’t shatter.

Growing impatient, he pulled his arm back and swung it forward with all his might. As the hammer impacted with the glass, he braced himself for the high pitched shattering that would follow. Instead, the hammer bounced off the surface and rebounded directly into his face. Groaning in pain, the thief dropped the tool, only for it to land on his foot, causing another, slightly louder, pained noise.

[FAIL]  
That looked painful. Would you like an ice pack?

Laser cutter it is then! Affixing the machine to the side of the glass, Henry turned it on, shielding himself as much as possible.

The beam went wide, causing him to have to duck to avoid getting injured. He waited for the low beep that indicated it had stopped before slowly looking up. The laser had cut the top off every glass case except the one it was fixed to, which was instead cut almost completely in half diagonally. It was a wonder how the treasures inside remained without a scratch.

Shrugging off the very rare incredible amount of luck he just experienced, the Toppat lifted off the glass and proceeded to pack the Crown Jewels delicately into his bag. All the other thieves did the same.

It was hard not to admire the jewels as he picked them up. The crown he held currently was set with hundreds of glittering gemstones that caught the moonlight that leaked through the windows. The golden surface was almost certainly real and felt cold against his fingertips as they poked out of his fingerless gloves. He wondered what it must have felt like to be coronated with such a glorious crown.

Unfortunately, the laser going haywire like that had set off some silent alarm. Just as the last of the jewels were stowed safely in their bags, the sound of guards approaching the doors echoed throughout the room.

The thieves all shared a look, most of them wide-eyed in terror. Henry shared a look with his Right Hand, who was obviously trying to think fast on her feet.

“Everyone to the windows!” she called in a harsh whisper yell.

People were trying their best to open the windows from the inside. They were all still locked, other than the one Henry opened to get in, but the locks are usually easier to pick from the inside. When under pressure, however, intricate tasks tend to become harder to complete.

Henry hung back as everyone made the jump out of the second storey windows, mostly to ensure everyone made it out, but also to make himself known. He wanted the guards to see him. He wanted them to call the police for reinforcements. He wanted to make the headlines, for the world to know he was back in action.

For Charles to know he was back in action.

Henry missed him, he really did. He missed his wide, welcoming smile. The bright look forever in his eyes. The little crease in his hair from wearing his headphones all the time.

Every freckle, every hair, every inch of him. What he would give to hold him again. Here, in a timeline that was almost perfect. Almost, except without him.

A loud crash snapped the Toppat from his thoughts as the guards let the door fly open. Henry was the only thief still up there. Good.

He turned, placing one foot on the sill of the open window in front of him and letting a smug grin stretch across his face. With a tip of his hat and a low chuckle, he vaulted out of the window, his trench coat flying behind him like a cape as he fell toward the ground.

Letting out a little sound of impact as he stuck his landing, he motioned for everyone to make a run for the exit. He heard the panicked voice of a guard as he left.

“The Toppats!” they exclaimed in a heavy British accent. “Their leader was jus’ here! He’s taken the Jewels! All of ‘em!”

He could hear less the further away they ran, but he managed to catch the phrase “...as many available officers, we need reinforcements!” A smile found its way to his face. This would be quite the show.

\---

“This broadcast is for all available officers.

We have a situation at the Tower of London. The Toppat Leader was spotted in the Jewel House after taking the Crown Jewels. Reports tell us every single jewel has been taken.

All available officers please report to the Tower of London. He is armed and possibly is not working alone.”

He knew it.

He fucking knew it.

God damn it, Stickmin.

“Everyone, fall back!” Charles commanded. “I’m coming down to pick you up! It’s a decoy! We have to go, now!”

“Wait, go where?” came a reply, from who; Charles didn’t really take note of.

“The Tower of London.”

A chorus of muttered cursing rang through his bright red headset as he took the helicopter down lower to the ground by the front entrance. The pilot noticed his small team running together as fast as they possibly could towards him as he landed the vehicle in the parking lot.

He got up quickly and threw the sliding door open for them, turning immediately back around to get ready to fly again. Oxford was an hour and a half drive from London. Charles could cut that down to roughly 40 minutes if he tried. The sooner they got in the air, the sooner they’d be there and the more likely they were to catch Henry Stickmin.

Flying much faster than he probably should, he managed to cut the trip down to about half an hour. While that was a significant improvement compared to the time the trip would’ve taken originally, it was still definitely enough time for the Toppats to get out of the Tower without raising any more alarms.

Not good. Not good at all! They had to spread wide, turn every stone. Henry was slippery, he could get out of any situation easily.

He came screeching to a halt above the Tower of London, hovering in mid-air while he scanned his eyes over the landscape to get his bearings. Police cars were everywhere, sirens blaring loudly and lights casting the surrounding pavement in blue and red. The Tower’s guards were essentially running laps of the building in an attempt to find the dapper thieves.

Charles knew that wouldn’t work.

“Here’s your drop,” the pilot said. “See if you can figure out any specifics.”

“Roger that, Captain,” Victoria answered for the squad.

The door slid open and the government agents all jumped out of the helicopter. Charles watched as they all descended towards the ground before resuming his flight around the immediate outskirts of the Tower.

In a dark spot under the bridge over the river, a tall albino smirked widely, brown eyes glittering at the familiar aircraft that hung in the air.

“Well he’s early,” Henry muttered to himself.

“Who’s early?”

Henry jumped a little at Ellie’s sudden appearance at his side. The redhead blinked innocently with a grin on her face that said otherwise.

“Who in that helicopter could be so important that you predicted when they would arrive?” she asked sassily. Henry backed himself against the wall and put his hand to his face in an attempt to hide the redness that was growing on his face. Ellie only laughed.

“A forbidden love!” she said in a sing-song voice as she pulled his hands from his face. “The thief and the government agent! So cute!”

“Shush, Ellie!” Henry said in a quiet, yet sharp whisper, seeing as his wrists were still stuck in the woman’s grasp.

“Chief,” came the voice of one of the other Toppats. She was relatively quiet, almost as if she was scared to interrupt. “RHM says the others are almost in position with the transport pod. Are we scattering now or…”

Henry nodded and ripped his hands from Ellie’s grip to sign the orders to the girl. They had planned to leave the Jewels they had stolen with most of the group in the hidden alcove under the bridge near the Tower where they were currently. A smaller group of them would leave and summon another transportation pod to take them back to the Toppat Orbital Station.

Henry had sent six people; four of the Clan, which included Reginald, as well as the blond boy and Noelia from Ruth’s team. The rest of them all remained hidden under the bridge while Right Hand Man kept in touch with Reginald over the intercoms. Now that they were almost in position, it was time to make a break for it.

Next phase of the plan: Scatter.

Each thief took as much as they could carry while still leaving room for movement. Henry, being the one they knew was at large, would draw their fire momentarily to give the others the opening to get into the city and put some ground between them and the police.

He swung a second duffel bag over his other shoulder and climbed the ladder up onto the surface. The Toppat Leader kept himself hidden for as long as possible as to not draw attention to their hiding spot. He found his way to the roof of the buildings nearby, waiting for the orbiting helicopter to spot him.

It wasn’t long until it did.

Several cars broke off immediately, heading straight in the direction they were told to. Charles obviously had communication with them. Good.

Then, more cars started up and followed after them, then the helicopter itself.

The Toppat ran across the rooftops like it was the open grass in a park and he was a child playing tag. A wide, toothy grin was spread across his face, and one hand was resigned to keeping his hat firmly on his head. He tried with as much care possible to keep the bags stable against his sides as to disturb the precious contents as little as possible.

It felt like a game to him. And he knew that would frustrate the hell out of Charles.

He was cute when he was frustrated.

As Henry ran, he heard the other thieves communicating with one another. He didn’t need to give orders here. Only to adjust his pathing to draw the attention away from them as he ran. After roughly ten minutes of this, he heard Right Hand Man talk directly to him.

“Alright, ‘Enry!” the cyborg said. “We’re all good! Where are you? I’ll come and pick you up.”

Henry took a moment to look around. There weren’t any particularly obvious buildings or landmarks that would help the Australian find him. He could turn around though. Make his way back towards Big Ben and get picked up there. It’d only take a couple of minutes to get there. He said as such through panting breaths into his microphone.

“I’m on the way,” came Right’s reply.

Henry skidded to a momentary halt before starting to sprint again in the opposite direction. The smile on his face fell a little as he was faced with what he had playfully dubbed ‘Quick Time Choices’. There were three options, but he didn’t have time to read them all before the time ran out and he fell off the roof into an alleyway.

[FAIL]  
How did you miss that the second time?

Let’s try this again. Quicker on his feet this time, he chose to use a paraglider. He jumped with a small effort sound before pulling out a reddish-brown coloured sail.

He glided gracefully through the air for a few seconds before he noticed a depleting green circle in his peripheral vision. As it reached a point where there was no green left, his grip on the sail slipped and he fell onto the asphalt below.

[FAIL]  
Butterfingers.

Okay, what else was there? Rocket boots? Rocket boots sound like a good idea.

He clicked his heels together and the souls transformed into little jet boosters. Taking a running start, Henry leapt off the edge of the building and started up his boots. He lost control immediately and found himself crashing through glass a few seconds later.

He blinked away the dizziness and found himself locking with one deep blue eye and another bright yellow. The thief loved those eyes. They’d been the most precious jewels to him in so many timelines and he- wait he was staring Charles in the face while he was on the run!

[FAIL]  
Wait, he’s supposed to crash into you! Not the other way round!

He paused for a moment before retrying. Did I mention how much he loved Charles’ eyes? He really loved his eyes. He couldn’t understand how someone could be bullied for something so beauti- right. Quick time event. The web-slinger was his final option.

He adjusted a metal contraption around his wrist and held out an arm before pressing a button on his palm. Out shot a web barely the thickness of a small rope that wrapped itself around the wheels of the helicopter. The Toppat swung through the air like a trapeze artist, using the momentum from the first swing to propel him forward into the next, and the next, and the next after that, leaving the web behind as he created another for him to use.

His arms felt like they were about to be torn from their sockets, but he got to his destination much faster. Actually, he might be harder to reach if he found his way up the giant clock tower which was now only a few buildings in front of him. Now he could either take the elevator or use a weird-looking, greenish, eldritch orb. Like the elevator’s going to work!

He manifested the orb into his hands. An odd purple aura glowed around it and it felt as if the orb itself was watching him. Creepy. Henry threw it as hard as he possibly could towards the top of the tower,

It must have landed just on the railing because the albino Leader found himself hovering in the air mere centimetres away from the safety of the actual floor. He began the far too familiar descent of plummeting to his doom with a loud scream.

[FAIL]  
Teleporting really isn’t your thing, is it?

Elevator it is then!

Web-slinging once more to the ground by the front door, he entered the tallest building in London and ran across the bottom floor to the elevator. The mechanical whirr of helicopter blades sounded outside while he waited for the elevator to arrive. When a short ding sound let him know it was there, he slipped in and closed the doors as fast as possible.

Charles was hot on his tail. He could feel it.

It was now essentially a race to the top floor. Surely Henry would win since he got in the elevator first, right? Or maybe Charles would run up the last few flights of stairs and make it there before him. Well he couldn’t do that if he did it first!

Regardless, he made it to the top of Big Ben first and made his way to the balcony. He looked down at the vast city below him and told Right through the microphone where he was, ignoring the questions from the rest of the Toppats as to how he got up there so quickly when he was just on the other side of the city thirty seconds ago.

What? The space thieves were all completely aware of Henry’s proficiency in shenanigans. They would likely assume that to be the case, and it’s not like they’d be entirely wrong. I mean, his powers essentially were based off-

“Don’t move!”

The sound of a gun cocking behind him and an oh so familiar voice cut off his thoughts. A wide smile found its way across his face as two options flashed through his mind. Jump or Confront. This one was easy.

Quickly, the thief mute his microphone and blinked away the genuine happiness on his face in favour of his signature smug grin. He turned dramatically, arms outstretched as if welcoming a hug and black coat swishing in the wind like a cape. He projected his voice across the void to ensure the pilot heard him.

“Charles Calvin! What a pleasant surprise!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have spent so long writing this my God!!!  
> I started this chapter before I posted the last one!! Why has it taken me a month to get this up??

**Author's Note:**

> Now that was a cluster fuck. Let me know if you enjoyed!


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